DE2659612A1 - DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING TUBULAR INSULATION SECTIONS - Google Patents

Description

MÜLLER-BORE DEÜFBL SCHÖN HERTEL

PATESFTAlTWlLTE

DR. WOUFGANG MÜUER-BOr6 (PATENT ADVOCATE FROM 1927 - 1975) DR. PAUL DEUFEL, D1PL.-CHEM. DR. ALFRED SCHÖN, DIPL.-CHEM. WERNER HERTEL, DIPL.-PHYS.

Munich, 30. ß ££ 10? »

Ma / st - N 1253

NEWi [LLS INSULATION COMPANY LIMITED

77 Fountain Street, Manchester M2 2EA, England

Device and method for the production of tubular insulation sections

The invention relates to the production of sections or "Lengths" or pieces of certain length of tubular pipe insulation made of fibrous or fibrous material web-shaped materials such as fiber batt, glass fiber mats or glass fleece or fur or fleece. Such pipe insulation products are intended in the following description as "sections", i.e. sections with

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MÜNOHEK 86 · SIEBERTSTR. 4 POST BOX 860780 CABLE: MtTEBOPAT TEL. (089) 471005 TELEX 0-24283

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given length, ". So far, such sections has been made by a piece of certain length of a nonwoven material that is exposed to a heat curable resin is impregnated, wrapped around a mandrel and then heated to cure the resin. Usually this process is carried out semi-continuously using a large number of mandrels, the move one after the other through the different stages of the section creation and finally to the starting point be returned when the finished section has been removed and the possibly necessary final end or. Finishing has been supplied.

In this method, however, a large number of mandrels are required for a bore size of the section, and if so to work with a range of bore sizes, an even larger number of mandrels is required. this is not appropriate both from the point of view of storage and for economic reasons.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to substantially reduce the inventory of mandrels that are used for it is necessary to manufacture a range of sections by the conventional method described above.

According to the present invention, an apparatus for the production of tubular pipe insulation sections a mandrel and a turret head around it step by step to move successively through a winding station provided with a loading device is the length of a predetermined length of the thermosetting resin impregnated fiber mat on the mandrel

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wraps, furthermore a curing station with a heating device is provided for curing the resin, and a dispensing station in which the section of the tubular Pipe insulation is removed from the mandrel before it is gradually brought back to the winding station.

An oven is expediently used as the curing station, which can be provided with doors to seal it off from the environment and thus to keep the warmth inside keep. If the oven has doors, a device can be provided to synchronize the doors with the movement of the turret, which makes the gradual movement of the cathedral, to open and close. Around To increase the heating effect of the furnace, the mandrel can be hollow and provided with openings so that air can pass through the mandrel and can flow or be pushed through the insulation section located on it. To this Purpose can be provided a G-blower or a fan, which is connected to the interior of the cathedral. According to a preferred embodiment, the air flow reversed so that the flow either from the outside of the dome inwards or from the inside of the Doms is done to the outside. Appropriately, the direction of flow depends on the position of the dome, i.e. from the station through which the mandrel is being incremented. The device should do so be designed that in the winding station air is sucked in from the outside, while in the other Stations that air flows from the inside to the outside, as will be explained below.

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The device can have a further fan or a blower included to circulate the air in the oven through a heater. Appropriately are several mandrels are provided so that the winding, curing and dispensing are more or less continuous can be carried out without unnecessary delays between each step. In this case, after a preferred embodiment uses four mandrels, which are mutually arranged at right angles on a common turret head. Then you should look for a preferred Embodiment, the air flow in the winding station from the outside into the interior of a mandrel and from Inside the three other spikes are made outwards. This is expediently achieved by changing the direction of flow is changed when the successive mandrels approach and leave the winding station; to For example, a shut-off or valve system used to reverse the direction of flow can be used associated with the turret mechanism, who performs the step-by-step movement. With this configuration, the air flow in the winding station such a direction as to assist in the formation of a compact roll of nonwoven fabric on the mandrel. To the at other stations, hot air from the furnace itself can flow outward from the inside of the mandrel; thereby become both the mandrel and the inner parts of the roller are kept at a relatively high temperature, whereby it is ensured that the resin is not only applied to the outside of the roll, but also over its thickness up to the mandrel is cured. When the mandrel leaves the furnace, the resin vapors are generally on from the furnace the section located there is much less than it would be the case if no air circuit was provided is.

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The loading device at the winding station can contain a conveyor belt that feeds a piece of predetermined length of the fiber mat to the mandrel in the station. The surface of the belt that supports the mat can be biased towards the mandrel so as to during applying pressure to the winding; if this is the pail is, the loading device according to a preferred embodiment includes a mechanism to during the stepwise movement to shift the tape so that it comes free from the mandrel.

The loader should also contain a mechanism that rotates the mandrel about its longitudinal axis can be rotated while in the winding station. This mechanism can be the turret assigned to perform the incremental movement of the mandrel; however, it is more convenient than forming part of the winding station; for example For example, a simple dog clutch can be used which can be engaged at one end of the mandrel and connected to a small gear motor. This is particularly useful when several mandrels are rotatable are attached to a common turret head.

The invention also relates to a method of manufacture of sections of tubular pipe insulation made from pieces of predetermined length of a nonwoven material that is impregnated with a hardenable resin, with these pieces of certain length in a winding station a mandrel are wound, which is there by means of a turret step by step from the winding station a curing station in which the resin is cured, then through an output station in which the piece was previously

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■ certain length of the tubular pipe insulation from the Mandrel is removed and finally moved back to the winding station. And finally concerns the invention still sections of tubular pipe insulation made by this method.

The invention is illustrated below with the aid of exemplary embodiments explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings.

Show it:

1 shows a greatly simplified plan view of a device according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in section, along the Line AA of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end view, partially cut away, taken along line BB of Figure 1; and

FIG. 4 is an end view along line CC of FIG.

As far as possible, the same reference numerals have been used for the same parts in all four figures.

As is shown schematically in FIG. 1, a mandrel 5 can step by step through a winding station 6 into an out- hardening furnace 7 and from there to an output station 8 ″. The mandrel shown is a Mandrel of a set of four mandrels, all freely rotatable to each other at right angles attached to a turret head inside the furnace. At

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the winding station is a means of transport 9, in particular a conveyor belt is provided in order to feed a piece of glass fiber mat "or glass fiber fleece" to the mandrel which has previously "determined" Is long and impregnated with a hardenable resin; this piece of fiberglass mat will wound on the mandrel; a drive unit 1o is used to to do this, turn the mandrel.

In Figures 2, 3 and 4 are the various individual parts of the device according to Figure 1 shown in detail, with Figure 2 - a composite view is, in which the left half is shown essentially in section and represents the furnace 7. The oven is through an enclosed chamber is formed in which a turret 11 is mounted to rotate about an axis can, which is perpendicular to the upper and lower walls 12 of the ■ furnace. The turret carries four freely rotatable ones Spikes 15, each arranged at right angles to one another and can only move in such a way that they follow an essentially circular path in a plane, which runs parallel to the walls 12 and is essentially halfway between the walls 12.

The turret is through a gearbox 14 with four Positions driven, which is mounted under the furnace, while the upper end 15 of the hollow turret drive spindle 16 with a rotatable sealing unit I7 a suction fan or a fan (not shown) is connected. The drive spindle does not contain itself rotating partition extending along its length to form a valve mechanism therethrough the air flows to the three mandrels inside the furnace are transferred from the air flow to the mandrel in the winding

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station separated. The fan "or the blower is arranged in such a way that that fresh air is sucked in from inside the last-mentioned dome, while another fan "or a fan (also not shown) circulating hot air from the oven into the three other mandrels and through the sections that support them, such as section 51 mentioned later, as well as back into the oven leads. When the mandrels are stepped forward one by one, the direction of the air flow becomes automatic vice versa. The mandrels are hollow and provided with holes, the hollow spindle 16 with them through the Main part of the turret 11 is in connection. The free ends 18 of the mandrels are closed and contained a slot I9. As seen from the right half of Figure 2 shows, the mandrel 5, which is located outside the furnace, lies between and parallel to a compression or solidification roller 2o and a grid conveyor 21. Because it is not clear from this illustration, It should be pointed out that the roller 2o is actually located behind an intermediate roller 22 and can be seen particularly well in FIG.

Both the roller and the conveyor are driven by a common drive motor 23 via a gear 24 and Chain drives 25 driven. The engine 23 is on the attached lower platform or support surface of a support frame 26, the upper platform 27 of which is a drive shaft 28 carries, which is slidably and rotatably supported in a bearing 2g. One end of the shaft 28 has a ■ Driver or a claw 31, which with the slot I9 can engage in the end of the dome; a pneumatic cylinder 32 is provided to rotate shaft 27 to the left (or

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after. right) so that the pick and the slot engage (or disengage), as will be explained later. An intermediate platform of the support frame

25 carries a drive motor unit 3 for the shaft 27, the driven by a chain 35 and a sprocket 26, which is axially displaced along a Keilnufbereich 37 of the shaft 27 can be.

The conveyor 21 (only one end of which is shown in FIG is) can be pivoted with the help of pneumatic cylinders 39 about its bearing shaft 38, so that the upper run of the Grid can be brought away from the mandrel. This will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 3, in which the parts of the right end area of the support frame

26 are not shown in order to increase the clarity of the representation. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the conveyor 21 has an endless grid 4o which moves in circulation between a drive roller 41 on a bearing shaft 38 and a roller 42. A counterweight 43 at the end of an arm 44 biases the entire conveyor to rotate counterclockwise about the shaft 38 into engagement with the mandrel 5 when the pneumatic cylinders 39 are not actuated. The consolidation roller _2o: said of the above that it is located behind the Zwisehenwalze 22 is gehaltertj by a pair of arms 45 of which only one can be seen in Figure 3 "these arms 45 about the axis of Zwisehenwalze 22 freely pivotable attached to the support frame so that see the roller 2o under the action of gravity in. Wants to move clockwise around this pivot connection. An adjustable stop 46 is provided on the support frame in order to limit this clockwise movement depending on how much compression or compression it is.

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Solidification in relation to the desired thickness of the section wall is required, as will be explained later in individual "should be described.

The conveyor 21 is fed by a further grid conveyor 47, only a part of which is shown.

FIG. 4 shows the surface of the furnace 7, seen from the side of the winding station. So that the mandrel 5 in one the plane perpendicular to the plane of the figure moves forward step by step the oven is provided with doors 48 which are arranged for sliding movement can perform in the plane of the figure; this movement takes place synchronously with the movement sequence of the Gearbox 14 with the help of pneumatic cylinders 49 · It should be noted that the dispensing station has a door similar to that in corresponding Way is actuated by a pneumatic cylinder "? This construction, however, is not in any of the figures shown in detail.

In the following, the functioning of the device will be briefly described with reference to the figures ", wherein the weighing station and the associated components are started. Lie during the winding process the following conditions or states exist; First, the gearbox 14 is put out of operation and the both oven doors 48 are closed, although the door in the dispensing station 8 may be open as a function of this whether or not to remove a section from the mandrel located in this station. the pneumatic cylinders 39 are not actuated, so that the counterweight 43 is in contact with the conveyor grid 4o

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swivel the empty Both at the winding station (according to the production in Figure 3 counterclockwise). The pneumatic cylinder 32 is actuated to the pawl 31 engages the slot 1g in the end to press the thorn; at this point the "both motors. 23 and 34, so that the conveyor grid 4o, the Verdiektangswalze 2o and the mandrel are all in motion are, namely mil; approximately the same surface speed. The fan already mentioned above with reference to the furnace is also in operation To draw in air from the inside of all mandrels.

A piece of "certain length" of a glass fiber mat or fiberglass mat impregnated with a hardenable resin is cut or torn off by a feed roller (not shown) and fed to the conveyor grid 4o along the conveyor 47, the length being as follows is selected _f that a desired thickness of the section wall ergxfot the stop 46 is adjusted so that it corresponds to the thickness;. this results in such a distance zmscten the surfaces of the roller 2o and the mandrel, that the bar during winding in the correct When the front band of this piece of mat reaches the mandrel and passes between the mandrel and the grid 40, the mat adheres to the surface of the mandrel due to the suction effect of the fan and wraps around around this, as indicated in Figure 2 by the dash-dotted lines at 5o.

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When this piece is completely wound on the mandrel, the pawl 31 is disengaged by the action of cylinder 32 is reversed; aside from that the cylinders 39 are actuated together with the cylinder 49 ", to open the oven doors. When the doors are open and the conveyor grid 4o free of the now wound Section is 5o, the manual transmission is 14 operated to move the mandrel and section gradually at right angles into the furnace while a new mandrel is fed to the winding station. These movements are then repeated until the first wound section is at an angle of 270 degrees from the winding station (which is two steps of 90 ° inside the furnace) and has reached the dispensing station. When the newly wound When entering the oven section, the air flow is reversed, and hot air is released through the mandrel from its Interior led to the outside, as explained above. At the last-mentioned station, the corresponding Door opened so that the finished section 5I of her Mandrel are withdrawn and further, possibly required processing steps are fed can; this includes, for example, longitudinal machining and / or machining the diametrical dimensions, to give the finished product the desired length and / or diameter.

On the device described here and its sequence of movements various modifications can be made; for example, you can click on the door at 8 (fig 1) can be waived. If the switching mechanism is designed so that a pause between successive 90 ° positions occurs, that is, at

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At intervals of 45, there is such a pause just before the winding station and just after the Door 48 (Figure 4) has been opened so that a mandrel carrying a section can exit the furnace. if a suitable removal device is provided at this point, the section can be removed without the door at 8 (fig 1) can be removed from the mandrel. ' Also has the section also has a longer dwell time in the oven, thereby ensuring complete curing of the resin is »As an alternative, the longer dwell time in the oven can be used to reduce the Increase production speed; because if the curing process goes in, for example, two holding steps is completed then the remaining dwell time in the furnace is not required, and so is the speed the gradual movement can be increased until curing is just finished when the sections from the. ovens exit. It is of course assumed that the winding speed is proportional this can be increased.

When the sections 45 are removed from the winding station should be, this is expediently done with a gripper unit which is arranged parallel to the mandrel while it is in the just mentioned 45 ° position.

This gripper unit consists of a pair of jaws or clamping jaws with gripping surfaces that are shaped to that they correspond to the generally circular shape of the section; the jaws can perform a relative movement, so that a section can be grasped between them. The gripper unit can also be used as a whole

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be moved in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the dome (relative to the above-mentioned 45 ° position); this allows a section to be stripped from the mandrel and then down into a suitable container, e.g. a trough, by opening the jaws. The sequence of movements the reciprocating movement of the gripper unit and the opening and closing of its jaws to carry out this process can be set automatically so that they follow the sequence of movements other parts of the machine are adapted. The width of the clamping jaws corresponds to a preferred one Embodiment of a larger proportion of the length of the sections to be processed, so that the gripping effect the jaws can be distributed over a relatively large area of the section. It is found during examinations that the use of such a gripper unit causes minimal damage to the sections.

Claims

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Readers ι te

Claims (12)

Pat ent calls 1. j device for making pieces "certain due to tubular pipe insulation made of fiber web material, characterized by a mandrel (5) and a turret head (11) to the Mandrel (5) one after the other through a winding station (6), which is provided with a loading device to a piece of predetermined length with a curable Resin-impregnated fiber mat is wound onto the mandrel (5), continues through a curing station that is connected to a heating device for hardening the resin is provided, and is moved through a dispensing station (8), in which the piece of certain length of tubular pipe insulation is removed from the mandrel (5) before the The mandrel (5) is gradually brought back to the winding station (6). 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the curing station has an oven (7) which is provided with doors is to keep the heat, together · with a device to keep the doors in sync with the movement to open and close the step-wise moving device. _ 16 - 709828/0718 3. Device according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the mandrel (5) is hollow and perforated means being provided for forcing air through the perforated mandrel (5). 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that by means of the device for generating the air flow the direction of flow through the mandrel (5) is reversible is so that the air at the winding station (6) from the outside into the mandrel (5) and into the furnace (7) flows from the inside of the dome (5) to the outside. 5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a plurality of mandrels (5) which are in the same Distances around the axis of rotation of the turret head (11) are arranged. 6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a device to each mandrel (5) to rotate in the winding station (6) about its longitudinal axis, together with a loading device, which the mandrel (5) during its rotation a piece of certain length of the fibrous web material feeds around this Wind pieces of a certain length in a roll on the mandrel (5). - 17 - 709828/0718 7. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that that the loading device has a conveyor belt, which in the winding station (6) in the direction of the mandrel (5) is too biased to put pressure on the the mandrel (5) to exercise supplied fibrous web material. 8. The device according to claim 7, characterized by means that during the stepwise movement of the dome (5) from and to the winding station (6) moves the belt to a position where it is free from the mandrel (5). 9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by one in the Ausga "bestation (8) provided Device to cut a length of tubular pipe insulation after the hardening of the curable Resin in the fibrous web material from the mandrel (5) to decrease. 10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that that the device for removing the piece of a certain length of tubular pipe insulation has a gripper unit which consists of a pair of jaws which grip the piece of certain length and axially can be moved to the mandrel (5) in order to withdraw the piece axially from the mandrel (5). - 18 - 709828/0718 11. The device according to claim 1o, characterized in that that the jaws G-tire surfaces, their shape of the general Circular shape of the piece is adapted, and have a width that is a greater proportion of the length of the piece of tubular pipe insulation corresponds to the gripping action of the jaws over a relative large area of insulation to distribute. 12. Process for the production of pieces of a certain length of tubular pipe insulation from beforehand certain lengths of a hardenable resin impregnated fibrous web material, characterized in that the length in a winding station (6) on a mandrel (5) is wound that the mandrel (5) step by step by means of a turret head (11) from the winding station (6) through a curing station in which the resin cures is then through a dispensing station (8) in which the piece of tubular insulation is removed from the mandrel (5) and then moved back to the winding station (6). 709828/0710