Method and apparatus for the production of a flexible metal tube

摘要

To produce a flexible metal tube, a flexible metal strip (1) is wound continuously and helically onto a tube-forming roller arrangement. The roller arrangement comprises a plurality of elongate rollers (30) which are arranged in such a way that their longitudinal axes lie equal distances apart on imaginary circles and are inclined to a uniform extent in the circumferential direction of these circles. The rollers are driven in synchronism with one another in the same direction. Before being wound onto the roller arrangement, the flexible metal strip is folded into a two-layer strip and provided with a reinforcing wire (20) which is introduced between its two layers. During the helical winding of the metal strip onto the roller arrangement, the adjacent windings of the metal strip are joined together by adhesive applied beforehand and a flexible metal tube is thereby obtained. <IMAGE>