Appeal No. 95-3879
Application 08/162,920
plastic tubes. Claims 1 and 3 are representative of the claimed subject matter and read as follows:
1. A collapsing frame for collapsing a moving tube of plastic material from a
circular cross section to a flattened formed, said frame comprising;
a pair of frame members positionable on diametrically opposite sides of the tube
to converge towards each other in the direction of movement of the tube so as to collapse
the tube by engagement of the tube therewith;
each frame member having mounted thereon for engagement by the tube a series
of longitudinally spaced roller assemblies mounted for free rotation about axes substantially
transverse to the direction of movement of the tube;
each roller assembly comprising a series of independently rotatable rollers each
having a peripheral surface oriented to tend to move the tube at an outwardly inclined angle
to the direction of movement of the tube, and each roller having a diameter in the range of
12.5mm to 25mm and a length in the range of 12mm to 5cm.
3. A collapsing frame according to claim 1 wherein said rollers are mounted on
axles which extend from a longitudinal centre line in opposed directions substantially
transverse and rearwardly inclined to the direction of movement of the tube to tend to
move the tube at an outwardly inclined angle to the direction of movement of the tube.
References of Record
The following references of record are relied upon by the examiner as evidence of obviousness:
Schott, Jr. (Schott) 3,980,418 Sep. 14, 1976
Planeta 4,533,309 Aug. 6, 1985
Noble 207,171 Dec. 6, 1956
(Australia Patent Specification)
Planeta discloses a collapsing frame in an apparatus for manufacturing thin plastic tubes. The
reference shows in Fig. 1 a collapsing frame for collapsing a moving tube of plastic material from a circular
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007