AU773417B2

AU773417B2 - Apparatus and method for sleeving and packing ducting

Info

Publication number: AU773417B2
Application number: AU10018/01A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Anthony Tonna
Original assignee: Tonna Mary Carmen
Current assignee: Tonna Mary Carmen
Priority date: 2000-01-04
Filing date: 2001-01-04
Publication date: 2004-05-27
Anticipated expiration: 2021-01-04
Also published as: AU1001801A

Description

-1I- P/00/001I1 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service in Australia: Invention Title: ANTHONY TONNA Fireehffls~dCarSmaW& D-Ble 'N~LL? OzmoeP 101 Cdllitis Street T A.eaboume Vietoria- 3600 C- aco Aus~alia APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SLEEVING AND PACKING DUCTING ADDRESS FOR SERVICE

ALTERED

Details of Associated Provisional Application: PQ4936 filed 4 January 2000 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us 2 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SLEEVING AND PACKING DUCTING This invention relates to apparatus and a method for sleeving and packing ducting.

Ducting for heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems is generally formed from an expandable duct of plastics material with wire reinforcements and foam insulating material surrounding the duct which is retained in position by a plastics sleeve. The ducting is usually assembled by the supplier in an expanded form and then packed into bags by compressing the ducting with its sleeved insulation into the bags so that it occupies less volume for transportation and storage before it is expanded and installed on site.

Hitherto, the sleeving and packing operations have been separate, manual steps involving expanding a duct and manually placing the foam insulating material around the duct, then the use of a hopper to sleeve the ducting and a drum to compress and pack the sleeved ducting into a storage bag.

It is therefore desirable to provide a more efficient method and apparatus for sleeving and/or packing ducting.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of sleeving ducting comprising: 20 expanding an expandable tubular duct on an elongate member so that the elongate member extends longitudinally within the duct with the ends of the duct ooooo S•being held stationary relative to the elongate member; feeding insulating material around the expanded duct by a reciprocally movable member which moves from a first end of the duct to its opposite, second end; and feeding tubular sleeving material over the insulated duct by moving the reciprocally movable member from the second end of the duct to the first end.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus S, for sleeving and/or packing ducting comprising: an elongate member fixed relative to a stationary frame; ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001 a reciprocally movable member movable relative to the elongate member and stationary frame between opposite first and second ends of the apparatus; first supply means for supplying insulating material at a first end of the apparatus; and second supply means for supplying sleeving material at the second end of the apparatus; wherein, when a duct is placed over the elongate tubular member with its ends held stationary relative to the elongate member, the movable member is movable from the first end of the apparatus to the second end of the apparatus to feed the insulating material around the duct, and then movable from the second end of the apparatus to the first end to feed sleeving material around the insulated duct.

The apparatus and method of the invention may also be used for packing the sleeved, insulated ducting into bags for storage and/or transportation. After the movable member has moved from the second end to the first end to sleeve the duct, the movable member may then be moved from the first end to the second end to compress the sleeved ducting into a bag held with its mouth surrounding the second end of the ducting.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 20 Figure 1 is a side view of apparatus for sleeving and packing ducting in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a side view similar to Figure 1 showing an expanded duct on the apparatus; Figure 3 is a side view of the apparatus showing the supply of insulating material at a first end of the apparatus; Figure 4 is a side view showing the feeding of insulating material around the duct; Figure 5 is a side view showing the supply of sleeving material at a second end of the apparatus; Figure 6 is a side view showing the feeding of sleeving material onto the insulated duct; ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001 Figure 7 is a cross-section taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 1; Figure 8 is a cross-section taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 2; Figure 9 is a cross-section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 4; Figure 10 is a cross-section taken on the line 10-10 of Figure 6; Figure 11 is a side view of part of the sleeved ducting; Figure 12 is a side view of the apparatus showing a bag for packing the sleeved ducting at the second end of the apparatus; and Figure 13 is a side view showing the packing of the sleeved ducting into the bag.

The sleeving and packing apparatus comprises a stationary frame 10, an elongate member 20 extending generally horizontally and fixed relative to the frame and a movable element 30 which is reciprocally movable relative to the frame and elongate member 20 in a horizontal direction between a first end position (shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12) and a second end position (shown in Figures 4 and The apparatus also includes insulating material supply means 40 for supplying insulating material 41 at a first end of the frame 10 and a sleeving material supply means 50 for supplying sleeving material 51 at a second end of the frame The frame 10 has a plurality of legs 11, 12 which stand on or which are fixed 20 to the floor 13. Some of the legs 11 support a horizontal platform 14 below the elongate member 20, and the other legs 12 support the elongate member 20 in its eoeoo• o substantially horizontal orientation.

The elongate member 20 is preferably in the form of a cylindrical metal pipe, but it will be appreciated that the elongate member 20 may be a solid cylinder and may be made from other materials, such as plastics. The elongate pipe 20 is 0. .0 supported in a cantilever fashion by at least two legs 12 at the first end of the frame with the second, opposite end of the elongate member 20 being unsupported.

On each side of the elongate member 20 there is a guide rail having upper and lower horizontally extending guide members 15, 16 supported by upright supports 17 which extend through openings in the platform 14 and which are fixed by horizontal bars 18 to vertical sides 19 of the frame 10 (see Fig The guide rail ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001 16 is also supported in a cantilever arrangement by the upright supports 17 with a second, unsupported end of the guide rail 15, 16 terminating short of the second end of the frame The movable member 30 comprises a ring 31 which surrounds and is coaxial with the elongate cylindrical pipe 20. A lower point of the ring 31 is connected to a reciprocating drive means 32 below the platform 14 by a vertical rod 33 which extends through an elongate longitudinal slot 34 in the platform 14. In one preferred embodiment, the reciprocating drive means 32 comprises an electrically driven endless belt or chain 35 which extends around pulleys or sprockets 36, but it will be appreciated that other types of reciprocating drive arrangements may be provided within the scope of this invention.

The insulating supply means 40 comprises a roll 42 of insulating material 41, such as foam or fibreglass, mounted on a rotatable spindle 44 supported above the floor 13 by an A-frame support 46. Similarly, the sleeving material supply means 50 comprises a roll 52 of sleeving material 51, such as polyethylene or other plastics material, mounted on a rotatable spindle 54 supported above the floor 13 by an A-frame support 56.

Referring to Figure 11, there is shown part of an insulated, sleeved ducting 60 comprising a central expandable duct 61, eg. of plastics material with a helical 20 wire reinforcement 62, insulating material 41, such as a foam or fibreglass material, around the central duct 60, and a sleeving of plastics material 51 surrounding the ooooo insulating material to retain it in place.

The method of operation of the sleeving and packing apparatus to assemble and pack the sleeved ducting 60 will now be described with more particular reference to Figures 2 to 6, 8 to 10 and 12 to 13 of the drawings.

Figure 2 shows a central expandable duct member 61 placed over the elongate cylindrical member 20 and expanded on the member 20 so that the elongate member 20 extends longitudinally within the duct 61. A first end of the duct is held stationary relative to the cylindrical member 20 by a clamping device 25 and the second end of the duct 61 is held stationary relative to the unsupported ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001 end of the elongate cylindrical member 20, eg. by another clamping means (not shown).

Insulating material 41 is then fed from the supply roll 42 to the first end of the clamped duct 61 where it is fed through the ring 31 of the movable member and attached thereto. The movable member 30 is then moved longitudinally by the reciprocating drive means 32 from the first end of the duct 61 to its second end, thereby feeding or drawing the insulating material 41 around the duct 61 as shown in Figures 4 and 9. The insulating material 41 is then severed by cutting means (not shown) from the supply roll 42 at the first end of the duct, and the insulating material 41 is detached from the ring 31 of the movable member 30 at the second end of the duct.

Referring to Figure 5, the sleeving material 51 is then supplied from the supply roll 52 to the second end of the insulated duct where it is fed through the ring 31 of the movable member 30 and attached thereto.

The movable member 30 is then moved by the reciprocating drive means 32 from the second end of the insulated duct to the first end of the duct to feed the sleeving material 51 over the insulated duct as shown in Figure 6. The sleeving material 51 is then severed from the supply roll 52 by cutting means (not shown) at the second end of the duct 61 and the sleeving material 51 may be secured to the 20 duct 61 and insulating material 41 at the ends of the duct by tape or other securing means, thereby producing a fully assembled length of expanded, insulated and sleeved ducting The fully assembled, expanded ducting 60 on the elongate member 20 may then be packed into a bag for storage or transportation in the manner illustrated in Figures 12 and 13.

Figure 12 shows a bag 70, preferably of plastics material, placed over the unsupported end of the guide rails 15, 16 so that the bag 70 extends around the second end of the sleeved ducting 60. The clamping device 25 at the first end of the ducting 60 is then released and a duct engaging member 38 is placed adjacent the ring 31 of the movable member at the first end of the duct 60. The duct engaging member 38 is preferably a forked member having an upper forked part and a lower ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001 part which is received in the longitudinal slot 34 in the platform 14. The movable member 30 is then moved towards the second end of the apparatus as shown in Figure 13 to compress the insulated, sleeved ducting 60 and to pack the duct 60 into the bag 70 at the first end of the apparatus.

The present invention therefore provides a convenient method and a single apparatus for feeding insulating material around a central duct member, for sleeving the insulated duct and for packing the fully assembled sleeved ducting into a bag for storage and/or transportation which requires less manual intervention than previous sleeving and packing operations.

It will be appreciated that various modifications and additions may be made to the preferred embodiment of the method and apparatus of the present invention described above without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

ooo f Seo SSSSo Sil ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001

Claims

1. A method of sleeving ducting comprising: expanding an expandable tubular duct on an elongate member so that the elongate member extends longitudinally within the duct with the ends of the duct being held stationary relative to the elongate member; feeding insulating material around the expanded duct by a reciprocally moveable member which moves from a first end of the duct to its opposite, second end; and feeding tubular sleeving material over the insulated duct by moving the reciprocally movable member from the second end of the duct to the first end.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the reciprocally movable member comprises a ring member which surrounds the duct and the elongate member.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the insulating material is fed from a supply roll through the ring member and attached to the ring member at the first end of the duct and drawn around the duct as the ring member moves from the first end to the second end of the duct. A method according to claim 3 wherein, when the ring member reaches the second end of the duct, the insulating material is severed from the supply roll at the first end of the duct and the insulating material is detached from the ring at the second end of the duct. A method according to any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein the sleeving material is fed from a supply roll through the ring member and attached to the ring .member at the second end of the duct and drawn over the insulated duct as the ring member moves from the second end to the first end of the duct. ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the sleeving material is severed from the supply roll at the second end of the duct when the ring member reaches the first end of the duct.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the sleeving material is secured to the duct and insulating material by securing means at the end of the duct.

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the reciprocally movable member is also used to pack the sleeved ducting into a bag.

9. A method according to claim 8 wherein the reciprocally movable member is moved to the second end of the elongate member to compress the sleeved, insulated duct into a bag held with its mouth surrounding the second end of the duct. A method according to claim 9 wherein the bag is placed over the end of at least one guide rail to extend around the second end of the sleeved, insulated duct.

11. Apparatus for sleeving ducting comprising: 20 an elongate member fixed relative to a stationary frame; a reciprocally movable member movable relative to the elongate member and 0 0:o stationary frame between opposite first and second ends of the apparatus; first supply means for supplying insulating material at a first end of the .oo..i ****apparatus; and second supply means for supplying sleeving material at the second end of the apparatus; wherein, when a duct is placed over the elongate tubular member with its ends held stationary relative to the elongate member, the movable member is movable from the first end of the apparatus to the second end of the apparatus to feed the insulating material around the duct, and then movable from the second end of the apparatus to the first end to feed sleeving material around the insulated duct. ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the ends of the duct are held stationary relative to the elongate member by releasable clamping means at the ends of the apparatus.

13. Apparatus according to claim 11 or claim 12 wherein the reciprocally movable member comprises a ring member which surrounds the elongate member.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the stationary frame includes a platform below the elongate member and a lower point of the ring member is connected to a reciprocating drive means below the platform by a rod which extends through a longitudinal slot in the platform. Apparatus according to claim 14 wherein the reciprocating drive means comprises an endless belt or chain extending around pulleys or sprockets.

16. Apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 15 wherein the first supply means comprises a supply roll of insulating material mounted on a member which is rotatable relative to first support means. 2

17. Apparatus according to claim 16 wherein cutting means is provided for ",severing the insulating material from the supply roll when it has been fed around the duct. oo i

18. Apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 17 wherein the second supply means comprises a supply roll of sleeving material mounted on a member 0000 which is rotatable relative to second support means. 0900

19. Apparatus according to claim 18 wherein a cutting means is provided for severing the sleeving material from its supply roll when the sleeving material has been fed over the insulated duct. ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001 11 Apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 19 wherein guide rails are provided on the sides of the elongate member.

21. Apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 20 wherein the movable member is movable from the first end of the apparatus to the second end of the apparatus to compress the sleeved duct into a bag surrounding the second end of the duct.

22. Apparatus according to claim 21 as appended to claim 20 wherein the bag is placed over the ends of the guide rails at the second end of the apparatus so that the bag surrounds the second end of the duct.

23. Apparatus according to claim 21 or claim 22 wherein a duct engaging member is used in conjunction with the reciprocally movable member to engage the first end of the duct and compress the duct into the bag.

24. Apparatus for sleeving and/or packing ducting substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

25. A method of sleeving and/or packing ducting substantially as described herein. Dated: 4 January 2001 Freehills Carter Smith Beadl "c -C'PS OQm-- 25 Patent Attorneys for the Applicant I"rtz- Z C r- ANTHONY TONNA ROG:RB 40406936 cap 4 January 2001