APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A HELICALLY WOUND TUBULAR STRUCTURE

摘要

A winding apparatus for and method of manufacturing helically wound tubular structures (116) includes a rotating inner faceplate (74) upon which are mounted a forming station for forming a supply of strip material before it is wound into a desired structure and a plurality of inner supports in the form of rollers (110) mounted for rotation about an axis and with said inner faceplate and a plurality of outer driven rollers (92) provided on an outer faceplate (118). The inner rollers (110) are mounted for radial movement relative to the inner faceplate (74). In operation, the inner rollers (110) act to support an inner portion S1 of strip material wound thereon whilst allowing it to be supplied from an inner diameter thereof to said forming station and the outer rollers (92) act to support an outer portion S2 of said strip. Said outer rollers are driven as and when necessary to transfer material to the inner portion S1 and the radial position of the inner rollers increases as strip material is consumed from an inner diameter, thereby to maintain support of the strip supply regardless of the amount that has been consumed.