US3530700A

US3530700A - Method and apparatus for forming spiral pipe

Info

Publication number: US3530700A
Application number: US744450A
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard O Marsh Jr
Original assignee: FAY PIPE AND PILE Inc
Current assignee: FAY PIPE AND PILE Inc
Priority date: 1968-07-12
Filing date: 1968-07-12
Publication date: 1970-09-29
Anticipated expiration: 1987-09-29

Description

Sept. 1970 R. o. MARSH, JR 3,530,700

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING SPIRAL PIPE Filed July 12, l968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I -5 I l I 2 il W INVENTOR RICHARD o. MARSH,JR.

ATTORNEYS P 9, 1970 R. o. MARSH, JR 3,530,700

METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR FORMING SPIRAL PIPE Filed July 12, 1968 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 INVENTOR RICHARD O. MARSH,JR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,530,700 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING SPIRAL PIPE Richard 0. Marsh, Jr., Sewickley, Pa., assignor t0 Fay Pipe & Pile Inc. Filed July 12, 1968, Ser. No. 744,450 Int. Cl. B21c 37/12 U.S. Cl. 72145 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE means mounted on each arm for translatory movement of the elements along the arm. Carrier means may be used to serve each end portion of a forming roll and their movement may be coordinated to move the entire roll at one time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The formation of commercially acceptable spiral pipe from flat metallic sheet material requires that the edges of the sheet to be joined be brought into abutting engagement or in sufficiently close relationship to permit the continuous joining of the edges by resistance welding, forging, or other joining techniques. To accomplish continuously such a spiral formation requires that the forming elements be adjustable initially to set up the apparatus for the desired diameter pipe to be formed and further adjustment is normally required as formation progresses to compensate for variations in the dimensions of the sheet material, the relationship of the edges when joined and other variables known to the industry.

Known apparatus for spiral formation of sheet material has not been capable of forming pipe within a wide range of diameters nor has the apparatus provided forming elements readily adjustable during the formation of the spiral. Nor has known apparatus for forming pipe with relatively thick walls been capable of operation by operators with a minimum of training and experience. The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a compact, easy to operate forming apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Broadly, the present invention comprises a frame, a fixed forming element and two movable forming elements which are movable in all directions relative to the fixed forming element through mounting and moving devices serving each movable element. Each device includes an arm pivotably connected to the frame, a carrier unit mounted on the arm for translatory movement thereon and means on the carrier unit for engaging the forming element element whereby each movable forming element may be independently moved in all directions relative to the fixed forming element.

It is a feature of the invention that a plurality of mounting and moving devices may be used to independently control the end portions of each movable element to provide incremental and complete control of spiral formation.

It is also a feature of the invention that two or more carrier units serving one or both forming elements may be inter-connected to permit simultaneous translation of the units on their respective arms.

3,530,700 Patented Sept. 29, 1970 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of apparatus of the invention; FIG. 2 is a partial elevational view taken from the side of the apparatus where the sheet enters; and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings, frame unit 1 includes base plate 2, front vertical support 3 and back vertical support 4 both mounted on plate 2. Supports 3 and 4 are rigidly secured together by longitudinal frame piece 5. Support 3 has an opening 7 to permit the sheet 8 to move through frame unit 1 without interference. Back support 4 may have a similar opening if the spacing of the supports and angle of feed of the sheet material requires. The arbor 9 is a solid, elongated, cylindrically-shaped element secured to extension 11 of front support 3 and is suitably secured to back support 4. Arbor 9 is supported on vertical support shaped to permit the sheet material to be spiraled around the arbor.

Arbor 9 together with polished roll 12 mounted in longitudinal slot 13 provides a stationary sheet forming surface for assisting in the forming of sheet 8 into a spiral 14. The edges of the formed spiral 14 are joined by conventional joining means (not shown). Polished roll 12 provides the smaller surface area of a member having a lesser diameter than the arbor and it is mounted on suitable bearing surfaces in slot 13 to permit it to rotate. The rotatable. polished roll substantially reduces the frictional forces resisting sheet movement over the arbor bending surface.

First movable forming member 16 and second movable forming element 17 each are similarly mounted for movement relative to the arbor 9.

Members

16 and 17 each have a longitudinal slot positioned to receive

rotatable polished rolls

18 and 19, respectively, to provide antifrictional surfaces with sheet 8. Polished

rolls

18 and 19, which are also mounted on bearing surfaces in their slots, may be held in position by any suitable means including metal straps passing around the members and the rolls which straps are positioned in recesses in the rolls to prevent interference with the sheet material. Forming

members

16 and 17 also have pairs of

grooves

21 and 22, respectively, formed in their surfaces to

reactive jaws

23 and 24 of carriers 26 and 27, respectively.

Groove

21 and 22 may extend all or a portion of the length of the forming member, provided the grooves are of sufiicient length to permit adjustment of the member in directions parallel to the longitudinal axis of the arbor. Set screws 25 hold the members in position after they have been longitudinally adjusted.

Carriers 26 and 27 are positioned for translatory movement in the slide chambers 28 and 29 of

pivotable arms

31 and 32, respectively (FIG. 3). Threaded

rods

33 and 34 pass through longitudinal threaded holes 35 in the carriers to permit the carriers to be moved along the slide chambers 28, 29 when the rods are rotated. Rotation of a rod in one direction Will move the carrier in one direction and counter-rotation of the rod will move the carrier in the opposite direction.

Arms

31, 32 are pivotable about axle 36 which passes through bearing holes in supports 3 and 4.

Arms

31 and 32 are pivoted about axle 36 and held in selected positions by

arm adjusting units

37 and 38 mounted adjacent the support 3. A corresponding pair of units for adjusting and controlling the other end portions of the movable forming elements are mounted adjacent support 4. Units and other elements adjacent support 4 (see FIG.

3 2) have corresponding numbers on the drawing followed by the suflix a.

Arm adjusting units

37, 38 each include

rotatable cylinders

39 and 40, respectively, mounted in

holes

42, 42a of supports 3 and 4. Threaded

stems

43 and 44 pass through and mate with threads in cylinder passages 45 and are secured to blocks 47 which in turn are secured to

arms

31 and 32, respectively.

Stems

43 and 44 have end sections 46 adapted to engage a wrench for turning the stems to raise and lower the arms.

Cylinders

39, 40 turn in bearing holes 42 as the arms are pivoted to prevent binding of the stems in the cylinder passages.

Threaded

carrier rods

33, 34 are turned to translate carriers 26, 27 by turning tie rods 48 which are connected to

rods

33, 34 through gear units 49. Tie rods have square end sections 51 to receive a crank 52. Instead of hand cranks power units may, of course, be used where suitable to drive and turn any of the rotatable elements of the apparatus.

In the practice of the present method of forming a spiral of sheet material, the movable forming rolls are initially set by moving

arms

31, 31a, 32 and 32a by operating

arm adjusting units

37, 37a, 38 and 38a and by turning tie rods 48 to position the carriers on the arms in proper position with respect to the angle of arm rotation to provide the proper relationship of the three forming rolls for commencing formation of a spiral of the selected diameter. Forming

elements

16 and 17 are adjusted longitudinally by loosening set screw 25 and sliding the members to the proper positions to accommodate for the angle of feed of the sheet material. Set screws 25 are then tightened.

Sheet 8 is fed into the forming rolls by a suitable drive arrangement to start formation of the spiral. As the spiral is formed, the pivotable arms and carriers are adjusted to provide a spiral of desired configuration and having required edge positions to permit the joining of the edges in accordance with the technique being employed. The carriers serving each roll or forming member have their movement correlated through their tie rods 48 to permit the entire roll to be moved at one time. Arm adjusting units permit movement of one end portion of a roll without substantially moving the other end portion. These two roll-adjusting techniques permit movement of the movable forming rolls in all directions to achieve any position and angle of the rolls.

The term pipe herein used is intended to broadly include tubes, conduits, corrugated pipe and any other generally cylindrical-shaped object formed by first forming a spiral from sheet material.

I claim:

1. In the formation of spiral pipe, the method of continuously forming a spiral from sheet material comprising (a) mounting and holding an elongated forming element in a stationary position,

(b) mounting two movable elongated forming elements in positions on pivotable arms substantially parallel to the first element to permit their movement relative to the first element while maintaining all the elements in substantially parallel orientation,

(c) providing translatory means on each pivotable arm engageable with a portion of each movable forming element for translation of the element along its supporting arm,

((1) commencing the formation of the spiral by driving the sheet over the stationary forming element and against the two movable forming elements which have been initially positioned to produce a pipe of selected diameter,

(e) adjusting the movable forming elements by moving the pivotable arms, and

(f) further adjusting the movable elements by translating the movable elements through operation of their translatory means.

2. Apparatus for forming a sheet material into a spiral having its edges positioned for joining, comprising (a) a frame including two substantially vertical and spaced-apart members,

(b) a stationary elongated forming element fixed to the frame,

(c) two movable elongated forming elements positioned to provide with the fixed element a spiral forming unit,

(d) moving means mounted on the frame members for moving the movable elements relative to the frame and the fixed element, the moving means in turn comprising (i) at least one arm for supporting and moving each element, each of the arms being pivotably mounted on a frame member,

(ii) carrier means on each arm for translatory movement along the arm, and

(iii) gripping means on each carrier means for gripping a portion of the movable forming element to carry the element as the carrier means and pivotable arms are selectively moved.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which the gripping means includes jaw means slidable along the movable forming element to permit the movable element to be adjusted in a direction parallel to the axis of the station ary forming element.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 having in addition armmoving means secured to one of the arms and pivotably mounted on a frame member for causing partial rotation of the arms relative to the member thus permitting movement of an element toward and away from the fixed forming element.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 in which two spaced-apart pivotable arms are used to support each movable element.

6. An apparatus for forming a spiral having its edges positioned for joining comprising (a) a frame,

(b) a fixed forming roll,

(0) two movable forming rolls mounted for movement relative to the frame and the fixed forming roll for moving each of the movable rolls,

(d) roll mounting means pivotably mounted on the frame for moving each of the movable rolls each mounting means in turn comprising (i) a pivotable member pivotably mounted on the frame,

.(ii) translatory carrier means positioned on the member for translatory movement along the pivotable member,

(iii) engagement means on each carrier means for engaging the forming roll,

(iv) means for pivoting the pivotable arm, and

(v) means for translating the carrier means along the arm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,752,873 7/1956 Freeze 22817 3,024,348 3/1962 Cavel 219-62 3,269,162 8/1966 Fay 72-145 RICHARD J. HERBST, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

Patent No.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Inventor(s) Richard O. Marsh, Jr.

Dated September 22, 1970 It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Page 3, Column 2, line 47,

r'eceive jaws-- Page 4, Column 3, line 29,

. 3mm JAN 5- .1971

Amsting Officer mania mm Page 3, Column 1, line 61, "element element' should-read elemen t-;

"reactive jaws" should read "screw 25" should read '-screws 25-