Method and apparatus for producing polymer solar collectors and heat exchangers

摘要

A panel former is provided for producing a panel that is formed from polymer tubing for solar collectors, heat exchangers, and other devices. The panel former can receive the tubing and continuously wrap the tubing around a drum so that support members can be welded to the tubing. After the support members are welded to the tubing, the tubing can be cut along a line substantially parallel to the support members to remove the tubing from the panel former and to form the risers in a panel.

主权项

1. A panel former for producing a panel formed of polymer tubing, the panel former comprising:
a drum having an outer surface around which polymer tubing can be wrapped; a rotatable arm having a carriage attached thereto such that when the arm rotates, the carriage travels around the outer surface of the drum to guide the polymer tubing around the drum, wherein the carriage has an angled bottom edge that acts as a tube indexer for moving welded tube a predetermined distance along the outer surface of the drum as additional tubing is wrapped around inner drum; and a welding device having a heating element positioned on the outer surface of the drum and configured to weld a plurality of polymer supports to polymer tubing wrapped around the drum, the polymer supports being positioned between the welding device and the polymer tubing during welding and wherein the polymer supports are oriented substantially orthogonal to the tubing; and wherein the welding device is activated by a feature attached to the rotatable arm and the feature pushes down a switch to activate the welding device when the feature travels around the drum as the rotatable arm rotates.