Abstract: A cylinder rounding/holding tool that is positioned in the center of the rotary table and bolted to a base plate for rigidity. The tool is formed from a metal frame that is circular on the inside diameter to form a locating boss and has flats on the exterior corresponding to the number of shoes required for the application. At each flat is a shoe that has two mechanical jacks (one at each end of the shoe) and a center guide tube. The jacks are powered by DC electric stepper motors that allow precise radial displacement of the shoes. The center guide tubes provide circumferential and axial load carrying capability and stability for the tool. The shoes are replaceable to allow machining to match the inner diameter of the cylinder being rounded. A computer controller may be used to control the stepper motors and a linear variable displacement transducer may be used for input to the computer controller and a real time feedback loop for roundness condition of the cylinder.

Abstract: A weld joint round tool. A heavy walled central mounting ring has a mounting plate joined thereto that forms the foundational structure to which all of the moving parts are anchored. Rounding/clamping is performed by twenty-four simultaneously activated shoes that are connected by linkage arms to a central actuator ring. The shoes are expanded or retracted by rotating the actuator ring, which in turn pushes or pulls on each linkage. The ring is rotated by an AC servo motor linked to a gear reducer, the output of which drives a stationary pinion gear to move a rack mounted on the actuator ring. The weld joint round tool is mounted on the end of a cantilevered mandrel structure, which is inserted into the cylinders to be welded. Once the tool is positioned at the joint between the two cylinders, the shoes are expanded to clamp the inner diameter of the two cylinders so that welding can take place.