Abstract: An extractor for pulling individual tubes from a tube sheet in a heat exchanger. The extractor includes a pair of serrated, drive wheels or drivers mounted in a housing on parallel rotating shafts. The tube drivers have inclined teeth which project into opposite sides of a passageway along which a tube is drawn. The spacing between the drivers is adjustable to accommodate different sized tubes, and the drivers are spring biased towards each other, to provide a constant gripping force on a tube within the passageway. The drivers are respectively rotated by two hydraulic motors, with the hydraulic power supply connected in series, thereby providing substantially synchronous rotation of the drivers.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
October 21, 1983
Date of Patent:
March 28, 1989
Assignee:
Harris Tube Pulling and Manufacturing Company