US2386823A - Method of preparing tubing for transportation - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 16, 1945.

I. D. THORNBURGH METHOD OF PREPARING TUBING FOR TRANSPORTATION Filed Dec. 3, 1943 IN.VENTOR. I r 4.. 12M Z flwflzmhz mama;

Patented Oct. 16, 1945 METHOD OF PREPARING TUBING FOR TRANSPORTATION Ivan D. Thornburgh, Leonia, N. J., assignor to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 3, 1943, Serial -No. 512,829

2 Claims. (01. 1532) The present invention relates to the manufacture of containers or cans from seamless or seamed tubing and has particular reference to flattening relatively thin walled tubing and winding it on a spool with a spacer tape interposed between the layers of tubing so that crushing of the edges of the tubing will be prevented when the loaded spool is shipped and stored as an incident to the manufacture of such cans.

Some attention has been given to the manufacture of metal cans from flat webs or strips by first providing endless tubes of the desired diameter and with the necessary longitudinal seam and afterwards cutting into container lengths. This has not been a success. The operation of forming the required extended seam and the further operation of cutting off the proper lengths as at present practiced appear to be operations somewhat foreign to can manufacture. The forming of seamless or prefabricated seamed tubing primarily is better adapted to the tube manufacturer.

Cans have not been manufactured commercially from seamless or prefabricated seamed tubing made in the tube manufacturers plant because of the difliculty of handling and transporting tubes of suflicient length to make it worth while for a can manufacturer to use such tubing. Tubes of short length, for example, will not suflice to keep automatic can making machinery operating at efficiency.

Again, it often is desirable to have relatively thin walled contains and here particularly the shipping of short length tubing stock is not practical since such thin walls do not offer suflicient resistance to the wear and tear of handling.

In some cases and for some materials the present inventor has found that the flattening of tubing into a ribbon as fully set forth in an application, Serial No. 512,828, filed simultaneously and concurrently with the present application and the winding of the flattened stock onto spools of great length and in a compact coil has resulted in unduly creasing the outer edges of the ribbon too sharply so that subsequent can manufacture is difiicult. The present invention is directed to avoiding this undue'creasing difficulty as will be more clearly seen as the description proceeds.

The instant invention contemplates a novel method of manufacturing this walled can made from seamless or seamed tubing fabricated at a tube manufacturer's plant, for example, wherein the actual manufacture of the can is made at another place such as a can manufacturing establishment, provision being made for'interposing a spacer tape between the layers of coiled tubing to prevent sharp creasing of side edges of the tubing and to provide for safety and efficiency in transporting the thin walled tube stock over considerable distances, if necessary.

An object of the invention is the provision of a method of preparing seamless or seamed tubing for transportation and handling as an incident to the manufacture of cans wherein the tubing is flattened into a ribbon and reeled onto spools with a spacer tape interposed between the layers of tubing on the spools so that crushing of the edges'of the tubing will be prevented.

Another obj ect is the provision of such a method wherein the tubing is flattened into a double wall ribbon with middle portions of opposite walls of the ribbon contiguous or nearly so, leaving hollow fully curved side edges free from sharp creases and reeling the ribbon of tubing into a compact coil for shipment and storagewith a spacer tape of a width-narrower than the width'of the ribbon of tubing and thicker than its hollow side edges, this tape being interposed between the coiled layers of the tubing so'that the outer hollow edges of the tubing will'not be creased.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent aS it is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawing;

Figure 1 is a side elevation of principal parts of an apparatus for carrying out the steps of the instant method invention, the view'showing a tube being flattened and reeled into a coil with a spacer being interposed between the layers of the coil, with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken substantially along the line 2-2 in Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 in Fig. 1, withparts broken away. i

As a preferred embodiment of the instant invention, the drawing discloses a method of preparing long lengths of tubing madeof relatively bendable materials such as aluminum or the like for shipment and storage and in a manner which protects the edges of the tubing against crushing or creasing. In such a method-the tubing to be transported is first flattened into a double wall ribbon having the middle portions of theopposite walls contiguous. This manner. of. forming the ribbon leaves hollow curved side edges of greater thickness. These larger,- open edges must not be creased and the present invention is concerned with overcoming this difiiculty.

After such a flattening or ribbon forming operation, the flattened tube isreeled into a more or less compact coil. While the tube is thus being reeled, a spacer tape is simultaneously fed into position between the layers of ribbon in the coil. This spacer may be of any suitable flexible material such as canvas or the like and may be used only once or may be returnable for re-use as the casemay be.

The spacer tape preferably is of a width narrower than the width of the ribbon of tubing so that it will engage against only the middle flattened portions of the ribbon. The thickness of the spacer tape should be of a dimension greater than or at least equal to the distance the hollow curved side edges of-the ribbon extend beyond the central part as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

Hence as the flattened tube ribbon and-the spacer tape are simultaneously reeled into a coil, the tape becomes interposed between the layers of ribbon in the coil, in a manner which keeps the hollow curved side edges of the ribbon separated and protected againstcreasing or other deforma tion.

Where the tubing is made with a relatively thin wall and is manufactured from soft, easily deformed material, such as aluminum, this method of preparing the tubing insures its protection during transportation and handling.

The principal parts of one form of apparatus for carrying out the method steps of the invention are illustrated in the drawing. In this apparatus a substantially continuous cylindrical tube A (Fig. 1) is advanced along a horizontal straight line path of travel and is reduced to a flattened double walled ribbon B while it advances.

Advancing and flattening of the tube A is effected preferably by a pair of combination feeding and flattening rollers ll, [2 (Figs. 1 and 3) which are arranged in a horizontal position, one above the other and between which the tube passes. These rollers are mounted on shafts l3 J'ournaled in bearings I4 formed in brackets l5 bolted to a frame [6 which constitutes the main frame of the apparatus. The rollers are rotated in unison in any suitable manner.

The upper f eding and flattening roller l l preferably is wider than the width of the resulting flattened tube so that it will engage the tube along its full width. The lower roller 12 is narrower than the width of the resulting flattened tube as best shown in Fig. 3 so that during the flattening operation it will engage only the middle portions of the resulting flattened tube.

Hence as the tube A passes between the rollers, it is simultaneously advanced and flattened into the double wall ribbon B, the lower roller 12 pressing the opposite walls of the middle portions into contiguous relation and leaving side edges 0 which are hollow and curved as best shown in Fig. 2. It should be understood that in first starting a new tube through the apparatus, the leading end will need to be initially flattened in a suitable manner so that the rollers will grip the tube. However, after the tube is once started the rollers will feed it through as long as there is any tube to be fed.

During the advancement of the tube A into the feeding and flattening rollers ll, [2 it may be guided by a pair of concave guide rolls 2! (Fig. 1). The guide rolls are located one on each side of the path of travel of the tube and are mounted on vertical idler studs 22 secured into brackets 23 formed on the main frame l6.

As the ribbon B of tubing leaves the feeding and flattening rollers l I, [2 it is reeled into a coil D. This is brought about preferably by winding the flattened tube onto a tube or ribbon spool 26. During the winding operation the spool preferably is mounted ona shaft 21 the ends of which. are carried in U-shaped bearings 2 8 formed. in a stand or subframe 29. The spool may be rotated on the shaft or the. shaft rotated with the spool in any suitable manner to efiect this winding orreeling operation.

. The spacer tape, designated by the letter E, is taken from an auxiliary or tape spool 32 which is located adjacent the spool 26. This auxiliary spool is mounted on a shaft 33 carried in U-shaped bearings 34 formed in the stand 29. When winding of the ribbon B of tubing on the tube spool 26 is begun, the free end of the spacer tape is inserted between the first layers of the tubing so that it will be gripped tightly. Thereafter as the tubing is wound onto the tube spool, the spacer tape is pulled by the rotation of the tube spool and is thereby unwound from the tape spool and is laid in place between the layers of the tube as the reeled tube builds up to form the coil D, as best shown in Fig. 1.

When a sufficientlength of the tube ribbon B has been wound onto the spool, the ribbon and the spacer tape may be cut on and the spool removed from the stand. The reeled length of tube is thus in .a more or less compact form, with its hollow curved side edges C- fully protected by each layer of edging. In this condition it is safe for efficient transportation and handling. Such a reeled tube unit may be shipped over long distances as from the tube manufacturing plant to a can making factory or other establishment as an incident to the manufacture of cans or similar articles for which the tubing is to be used.

It is thought that the invention and. many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the steps of the process described and their order of accomplishment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its mate-rial advantages-the process hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

l. A method of preparing metallic tubing for transportation and handling as an incident to the manufacture of metalcontainers, comprising flattening the tubing to produce a double wall ribbon having hollow curved side edges, reeling the flattened ribbon into a coil, and simultaneously interposing between the layers of coiled ribbon a spacer tape narrower than said ribbon so that the tape will be clear of the outer hollow edges of the ribbon to maintain its adjacent edges free of each other so that sharp creasing of the flattened tube edges will be prevented.

2. A method of preparing metallic tubing for transportation and handling as an incident to the manufacture of metal containers, comprising flattening the tubing intoa double wall ribbon with one face of the double wall straight in cross section and with the middle portions of opposite walls of the ribbon contiguous to leave hollow curved side edges curving away from said straight wall so that they will be free from sharp creases, reeling the flattened ribbon into a compact coil for shipment and storage, and simultaneously feeding into position between the coiled iayers of the ribbon and between said hollow side edges a spacer tape of a width narrower than said ribbon and sufficiently thick to space apart the hollow edges of the ribbon radially to prevent sharp creasing thereof.

IVAN D. THORNBURGH.

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