DEVICE FOR UNWINDING AND STRAIGHTENING COILED METALLIC TUBES

Abstract

The device of the invention comprises a structural rack (10) provided with wheels (12) and carrying: a horizontal shaft (20), which supports a reel (30) in which is wound a tube (T); an assembly of straightening rollers (60), at least one of them being a traction roller of the tube (T) driven by a motor unit (50); and a support arm (40), having an end (41) mounted around the horizontal shaft (20) and an opposite end (42) carrying the motor unit (50) and the assembly of rollers (60), between which the tube (T) is pulled and straightened according to a direction tangential to the reel (30), the support arm (40) being locked in the structural rack (10) in different positions angularly offset from each other.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention refers to a device to be used to unwind and straighten somewhat flexible and deformable metallic tubes as, for example, continuous copper tubes, which are wound in a coil and to be applied, in a straightened or rectified condition, in a horizontal installation in the ground, in ditches, ducts or racks, or along a vertical or inclined wall in a building.

PRIOR ART

It is well known from the state of the art the use of metallic tubes to conduct different fluids, such as water and gas, in exposed or internal building installations, or in public roads, generally in ditches or ducts in the ground.

Generally, the metallic tubes used in said installations are provided in straight extensions of some meters that are connected to each other by threaded or welded fitting elements.

The use of tubes in straight extensions presents the inconvenience of requiring the provision of fitting elements between the tube extensions, as well as long and expensive installation operations, with the necessary reliable and tight connection between each two tube extensions.

The inconvenience mentioned above and related to the tubes in straight extensions becomes more serious when the tubes are vertically mounted in different applications along internal or external vertical walls of several buildings. In this case, the difficulties of the operations of connecting and affixing the tubes are considerably increased.

Therefore, although the use of the tubes in straight extensions allows the formation of lines of rectilinear pipes that are esthetically and efficiently arranged in the available spaces, the assembly and installation difficulties make this known technique very troublesome and expensive.

Another known solution for the formation of the referred tube extensions of the type considered herein uses somewhat flexible metallic tubes, such as the annealed copper tubes, defined in continuous extensions wound in a coil and which are required to be unwound and somehow straightened to be installed.

The solution using a coil cited above has the advantage of eliminating the operations of connecting the tube extensions one to another. However, the usual operations of unwinding and straightening the coiled metallic tube, if not properly carried out, result in a non-rectilinear tube extension, usually with a somewhat elongated sinusoidal shape. Even in the case the sinusoidal aspect is of low amplitude, the installation of the tube will not present an adequate aesthetic appearance and a desirable efficiency in using the dimensions available for the mounting of the tubes, mainly when said mounting comprises a plurality of tubes arranged side by side.

Document U.S. Pat. No. 3,242,566 describes a machine for cutting a metallic tube to a predetermined length, while said tube is being unwound from a respective coil, carried in a reel, and straightened by an assembly of straightening rollers, at least one of them being rotatively driven for pulling the tube from the coil, making it pass through the straightening rollers. In this prior constructive solution, the reel with the coil, the assembly of straightening rollers and a tube cutting device are mounted on a rack or structural frame provided with wheels or rollers.

Although said previous solution provides a device that facilitates the displacement of a metallic tube coil in the installation place and allows the tube to be straightened, while being pulled and unwound from the coil, it unwinds and straightens the tube only in a single sense, according to a horizontal direction that is tangent or substantially tangent to the upper region of the coil.

Said prior device does not allow the tube to be unwound and straightened, according to installation directions other than the horizontal and superiorly tangent to the coil.

Nevertheless, in certain applications, the tube must be installed according to a vertical or inclined direction, in a descending or ascending sense, or even in a horizontal direction in ditches or underground duct. In these cases, the unwound and straightened tube must be redirected, by any adequate means, from its horizontal and superiorly tangential release from the coil, towards the direction required for installation.

Redirecting the tube unwound from the coil requires troublesome operations, which may require the use of additional traction means and lead to undesirable deformations in the already straightened tube. This inconvenience of the known solutions becomes more emphasized in the installations in which the tube is mounted in vertical directions, along external or internal walls of buildings. In these cases, the solutions of the state of the art do not allow the tube to be unwound, straightened and progressively installed, without requiring any alterations in the direction in which it is unwound and straightened, usually requiring the provision of an additional traction device.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

As a function of the inconveniences of the known solutions, the present invention has, as one of its objects, to provide a device for unwinding and straightening wound metallic tubes, which allows for an easy displacement and positioning of the coil at the installation place, and an adequate operation of straightening the tube while it is being progressively pulled and unwound from the coil, as well as the tangential release of the straightened tube from the coil, according to different directions that are offset from each other in at least 270 degrees, including the descending and ascending vertical directions and the opposite upper and lower directions in relation to the coil.

As already mentioned, the present device is of the type which comprises a structural rack mounted over rollers and carrying: a horizontal shaft, around which is mounted, in a removable and freely rotating way, a reel in which is wound a metallic tube; an assembly of tube straightening rollers, at least one of them being a traction roller, for pulling the tube from the coil; and a motor unit for rotatively driving the traction roller.

According to the invention, the present device further comprises a support arm having an end rotatively mounted around the horizontal shaft of the structural rack and an opposite end carrying the motor unit and the assembly of straightening rollers, between which the tube, after being unwound from the reel, is pulled and straightened according to a direction that is tangential to the reel, the support arm being locked to the structural rack in different positions that are angularly offset from each other.

With the construction defined above, the reel, carrying the tube coil, can be easily positioned in the installation place and have the support arm angularly displaced around the horizontal shaft of the structural rack and locked thereto, in a position in which the tube pulling and straightening direction coincides with that tube installation direction, which can be vertical or inclined, descending or ascending, or lower or upper horizontal in relation to the coil.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described below, with reference being made to the appended drawings, by way of example of a possible embodiment of the invention and in which:

FIG. 1 represents a front perspective view of the device of the present invention, with its support arm locked in a position in which the tube is being pulled and straightened in the descending vertical direction;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail of part of FIG. 1, illustrating the region in which the tube enters in the assembly of straightening rollers;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the device illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a lateral elevational view of the device illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, further showing, in dashed lines, different operational positions for the support arm;

FIG. 5 represents a lateral elevational view of the assembly of straightening rollers illustrated in FIG. 4 and acting over a tube extension being straightened;

FIG. 6 is an upper plan view of a pair of straightening rollers dimensioned for a determined tube gauge; and

FIG. 7 is an upper plan view of a pair of straightening rollers constructed so as to operate with three different tube gauges.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As already mentioned and illustrated in the figures of the appended drawings, the present device comprises a structural rack 10, formed in metallic profiles and presenting a base frame 11, which is seated on four wheels 12, or other adequate rolling means, and which carries an upper frame 13 to which is affixed a horizontal shaft 20.

The horizontal shaft 20 presents a front extension 21, around which is mounted, in a removable and freely rotating way, a central tubular hub 31 of a reel 30, which also includes a cylindrical frame 32 that is affixed to the central tubular hub 31 by a plurality of radial rods 33. Around the cylindrical frame 32 of the reel 30 is wound a metallic tube T to be straightened.

It should be understood that the structural rack 10 may present different configurations, provided that it can be seated, in a stable way, on wheels that facilitate movement on a support floor in the installation place, and that it can carry the reel 30 of the tube coil, in a freely rotating condition around the horizontal shaft 20.

The reel 30 can be constructed in different materials, such as aluminum, and in different manners, as long as it presents the central tubular hub 31 to be mounted around the horizontal shaft 20, and the cylindrical frame 32, with a diameter inferior to the height of the horizontal shaft 20 in relation to the base frame 11 and with a width sufficient to accommodate a determined extension of the tube T.

The axial retention of the central tubular hub 31 in the horizontal shaft 20 can be achieved in different manners well known in the art, provided that it guarantees a reliable retention of the reel 30 in the horizontal shaft 20 during the movement and operation of the device, and also the possibility of replacing an empty reel by another reel carried with a coil of the tube T.

According to the invention, the horizontal shaft 20 further presents a rear extension 22, coaxial to the front extension 21 and around which is mounted an end 41 of a support arm 40. Such arrangement allows the support arm 40 to be freely displaced, around the rear extension 22 of the horizontal shaft 20, by an angular extension which will depend on the particular construction applied to the upper frame 13 of the structural rack 10 and to the rear extension 22 of the horizontal shaft 20.

In the illustrated construction, the horizontal shaft 20 is formed in a single piece, with the ends of its rear extension 22 being respectively mounted to opposite lateral bearings 14, which project upwardly from the upper frame 13 of the structural rack 10. Thus, the support arm 40 can be rotated, around the rear extension 22 of the horizontal shaft 20, by an angle of at least 270 degrees. In case the rear extension 22 of the horizontal shaft 20 is affixed, in cantilever, to the upper frame 13 of the structural rack 10, the support arm 40 can be rotated in 360 degrees around the rear extension 22 of the horizontal shaft 20.

The support arm 40 has an opposite end 42 carrying a motor unit 50 defined by an electric motor 51 and by a rotation reducer 52, and an assembly of straightening rollers 60, each having a shaft 61 parallel to the horizontal shaft 20 and affixed to a support 65 which, on its turn, is affixed to said opposite end 42 of the support arm 40.

As better illustrated in FIG. 5, the straightening rollers 60 are arranged so that they can act sequentially, two by two, over the extension of the tube T which is made to pass progressively therebetween, to effect the rectifying calendering operation in the tube T.

In the construction illustrated in the drawings, one of the straightening rollers 60, preferably the one disposed in the last position of the assembly, considering the sense of displacement of the tube T, has is shaft 61 coupled to the outlet shaft (not illustrated) of the rotation reducer 52, in order to be rotatively driven by the motor unit 50 and, thus, also operate as a traction roller, pulling the tube T from the reel 30 and through the assembly of straightening rollers 60, according to a direction tangential to the reel 30.

The support 65 further carries, superiorly, a tubular guide 67, usually formed in an antifriction elastomeric material and disposed axially aligned with the path direction of the tube T upon passing through the assembly of straightening rollers 60.

The present device further comprises a fairing 65a, constructed in a metallic material or even plastic, affixed to the opposite end 42 of the support arm 40 and also to the support 65 of the assembly of straightening rollers 60, so as to surround the latter, in a position opposite to that of the support 65, and thus avoid accidents.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the support arm 40 can be locked, in the structural rack 10, in different positions which are angularly offset from each other and defined from a first end position, in which the direction of unwinding and straightening the tube T is vertical and descending VD (illustrated in solid lines), to a second end position, offset in 270 degrees in relation to the first end position and in which the direction of unwinding and straightening the tube T is horizontal and inferiorly tangent HI to the reel 30, as illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 4. The support arm 40 can be further selectively locked, in any of said different operational positions, including those in which the direction of unwinding and straightening are, respectively, horizontal and superiorly tangent HS to the reel 30 and vertical and ascending VA, as illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 4.

The locking of the support arm 40 in the different operational positions can be achieved by several manners, such as for example, the one illustrated and according to which at least one of the lateral bearings 14 is provided with a circular alignment of orifices 15, concentric to the rotation axis of the support arm 40. Into one of said orifices 15 can be selectively fitted a lock pin P, which is also fitted in an orifice 43 defined in the support arm 40. The number of orifices 15 will determine the number of different operational positions of the support arm 40. However, it should be understood that the lateral bearings 14 can be provided with tightening means capable of acting against the support arm 40, locking it in any angular positioning.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, there can be provided five straightening rollers 60 constructed with a single circumferential channel 66, dimensioned for a determined gauge of the tube T, as illustrated in FIG. 6. In this case, upon alteration of the gauge of the tube T to be unwound and straightened, the rollers 60 must be replaced by rollers with the circumferential channel being dimensioned according to the new gauge of the tube T.

However, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the rollers 60 can be constructed with a plurality of circumferential channels 66, each being dimensioned to operate with a determined gauge of tube T. In this case, upon alteration in the gauge of the tube T to be unwound and straightened, the rollers 60 need not be replaced by other rollers.

Independently of the number of circumferential channels provided in each one of the straightening rollers 60, at least part of the latter has the shaft 61 thereof eccentrically mounted to the support 65 and affixed, in an adjustable way, in a position which allows the roller to operate, jointly with the adjacent roller, against the wall of the tube T of a predetermined gauge.

In the illustrated construction, the shaft 61 of each adjustable roller is operatively associated with a fastening lever 68, to maintain the roller in a determined operational position adequate to allow its circumferential channel 66 to act against the tube T being straightened.

The present device can be further provided with a meter counting means 70, mounted to the opposite end 42 of the support arm 40 and provided with a pulley 71 which is constantly and elastically forced against the wall of the extension of the tube T, already straightened and progressively released from the assembly of straightening rollers 60, so that said pulley 71 can be rotated by the frictional linear displacement of the tube T which activates the meter counting means 70.

The present device allows the reel 30, carrying the wound tube T, to have its tubular hub 31 manually mounted around the front extension 21 of the horizontal shaft 20 affixed in the upper frame 13 of the rack 10, it being possible to provide the reel 30 in different sizes and carrying a coil for the tube T with different diameters within certain limits.

The tube T is unwound from the reel 30 and released in the desired direction, by actuation of the motor unit 50 and under control of an on-off button 18, or by means of a remote control or button panel presenting a control cable of adequate length, the motor unit being fed by a power cord 19 having a length dimensioned to allow the device to be used in different positions in the construction site.

In case the tube T has to be installed in an ascending vertical direction VA, the end of the tube T leaving the assembly of rollers 60 can be tied up in a cable or cord to be ascendingly guided to the required height. For other installation directions, the displacement of the tube T can be guided by existing channels or existing conducts, or even manually.

It should be understood that the particularities of each installation will lead to the use of different available techniques, in order to turn more practical and reliable the application of the tube in its final mounting site.

Claims

1. A device for unwinding and straightening wound metallic tubes, comprising a structural rack (10) mounted over wheels (12) and carrying: a horizontal shaft (20), around which is mounted, in a removable and freely rotating way, a reel (30) in which is wound a metallic tube (T); an assembly of straightening rollers (60), at least one of them being a traction roller, for pulling the tube (T) from the reel (30); and a motor unit (50) for rotatively driving the traction roller (60), the device being characterized in that it further comprises a support arm (40) having an end (41) rotatively mounted around the horizontal shaft (20) of the structural rack (10) and an opposite end (42) carrying the motor unit (50) and the assembly of straightening rollers (60), between which the tube (T), after being unwound from the reel (30), is pulled and straightened according to a direction tangential to the reel (30), the support arm (40) being locked in the structural rack (10) in different positions angularly offset from each other.

2. The device, according to claim 1, characterized in that the angularly offset different positions of the support arm (40) are defined from a first end position, in which the direction of unwinding and straightening the tube (T) is vertical and descending (VD), to a second end position, offset in 270 degrees in relation to the first end position, and in which the direction of unwinding and straightening the tube (T) is horizontal and inferiorly tangent (HI) to the reel (30), the support arm (40) being further selectively locked, in any of said different operational positions, including those in which the direction of unwinding and straightening are, respectively, horizontal and superiorly tangent (HS) to the reel (30) and vertical and ascending (VA).

3. The device, according to claim 1, characterized in that the straightening rollers (60) are disposed, in order to actuate sequentially, two by two, over the extension of the tube (T) which is progressively passed between said straightening rollers (60), the opposite end (42) of the support arm (40) carrying a support (65), each straightening roller (60) having a shaft (61), parallel to the horizontal shaft (20) and affixed to said support (65).

4. The device, according to claim 3, characterized in that each straightening roller (60) has at least one circumferential channel (66) dimensioned to operate with a determined gauge of the tube (T), at least one of the straightening rollers (60) presenting their shaft (61) eccentrically mounted to the support (65) and affixed, in an adjustable way, in a position which allows the roller to operate, jointly with the adjacent roller, against the wall of tube (T) of a predetermined gauge.

5. The device, according to claim 4, characterized in that the support (65) carries, superiorly, a tubular guide (67), which is disposed axially aligned to the path direction of the tube (T) upon passing through the assembly of straightening rollers (60).

6. The device, according to claim 3, characterized in that it further comprises a fairing (65a) affixed to the opposite end (42) of the support arm (40) and surrounding the straightening rollers (60) in a position opposite to that of the support (65).

7. The device, according to claim 1, characterized in that the horizontal shaft (20) presents a front extension (21), bearing the reel (30), and a rear extension (22), coaxial to the front extension (21) and around which is mounted the end (41) of the support arm (40), the structural rack (10) including an upper frame (13), from which are upwardly projected lateral bearings (14) in which are respectively affixed the ends of the rear extension (22) of the horizontal shaft (20).

8. The device, according to claim 7, characterized in that at least one of the lateral bearings (14) is provided with a circular alignment of orifices (15), concentric to the rotation axis of the support arm (40), the latter being provided with an orifice (43) which is aligned with an orifice (15) of a bearing (14), in a respective angular position of the support arm (40), in which said aligned orifices receive a lock pin (P).

9. The device, according to claim 7, characterized in that the reel (30) has a central tubular hub (31) mounted around the front extension (21) of the horizontal shaft (20).

10. The device, according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a meter counting means (70), mounted to the opposite end (42) of the support arm (40) and provided with a pulley (71), which is constantly and elastically forced against the wall of the extension of the tube (T), already straightened and being progressively released from the assembly of straightening rollers (60), so that the pulley (71) can be rotated by the frictional linear displacement of the tube (T) which activates the meter counter means (70).