Flexible tube, manufacturing method and apparatus

摘要

Apparatus for use with two or more supplies of strip metal comprises, for each supply, a strip feeder and a bending head, the feeder being adapted to receive metal from said each supply and deliver same to the head which is adapted to receive and curl metal from the feeder to produce a strip part encircling a central axis in a coiling manner. The heads and feeders are adapted such that the part axes are coincident and the parts are axially offset from one another, with axially adjacent parts being positioned relative to one another throughout their lengths to define a metal strip which encircles the coincident axes in a coiling manner, the metal strip defining a tubular arrangement which can be used at least for armor cable. The parts can have cross sections such that they interlock throughout their lengths and the strip interlocks with itself throughout its length.

主权项

1. An improved product, the product being of the type having a single layer metal strip encircling a central longitudinal axis in a coiling manner, the strip defining a tubular arrangement, wherein the improvement comprises:
the strip being defined by two or more separate strip parts, the two or more strip parts each having a common radius of curvature, encircling the axis in a coiling manner and being offset from one another in the direction of the axis.