A method and apparatus are disclosed with a continuous straw forming process for spiral winding boron-coated foil into a rounded tube or cylinder with an overlap and tight contact between the spiral edges, and a welding process utilizing a high precision fiber laser to weld the spiral seem forming a straw tube.

A method of making an annular component includes forming sheet feedstock into an annular shape disposed about a central axis; and bonding one portion of the feedstock to another portion of the feedstock using ultrasonic welding, so as to fix the annular shape.

Apparatus (10) for forming a spirally wound conduit (14) from a flat strip (2) comprising: a forming device (6) comprising a bending section (7) configured to spiralling bend the strip (2) and a joining section (8) configured to join opposite longitudinal sides (2A,2B) of the strip (2) each other; a feeding device (11) of the strip (2) along a feeding direction (F) parallel to the longitudinal edges (9) of the strip (2); a cutting device (1) arranged upstream the forming device (6) comprising a cutting head (3) for cutting the strip (2) and moving means configured to move said cutting head (3) along a plurality of moving axes (X,Y,Z) orthogonal to each other; a control unit (18) configured to command said moving means according to diameter (D) of the conduit (14) to be realized and to the width (B) of the strip (2) so that said cutting head (3) realizes on the strip (2) a plurality of arrays (12) of holes (13) each one tilted with respect to one of the longitudinal edges (9) of the strip (2) by an angle () function of the width (B) of the strip (2) and of the diameter (D) of the spiral conduit (14) to be realized. The present invention relates also to a air conduit (14), a perforated strip (2) and a coil (19) of a perforated strip (2) comprising a plurality of said arrays (12) of holes (13) wherein said holes (13) comprise at least two different shapes.

Tube forming methods can be used for efficient transition in the production of tubes having varying thickness. Material used to form consecutive tubes may have the same thickness along a separation plane separating a first discrete section from a second discrete section of the material, and the first discrete section and the second discrete section may each have varying thickness in a feed direction of the material. With such a thickness profile, the first discrete section of the material may be formed into a first cylinder having varying thickness and separated from the second discrete portion as the second discrete section is formed into a second cylinder having varying thickness. In particular, the transition between the first cylinder and the second cylinder may be achieved without scrap and/or interruption, resulting in cost-savings and improvements in production throughput associated with forming tubes having varying thickness.

A process for winding a convolutely wound tubular structure having a machine direction, a cross-machine direction coplanar thereto, and a Z-direction orthogonal to both the machine- and cross-machine directions is disclosed.

Tube forming methods can be used for efficient transition in the production of tubes having varying thickness. Material used to form consecutive tubes may have the same thickness along a separation plane separating a first discrete section from a second discrete section of the material, and the first discrete section and the second discrete section may each have varying thickness in a feed direction of the material. With such a thickness profile, the first discrete section of the material may be formed into a first cylinder having varying thickness and separated from the second discrete portion as the second discrete section is formed into a second cylinder having varying thickness. In particular, the transition between the first cylinder and the second cylinder may be achieved without scrap and/or interruption, resulting in cost-savings and improvements in production throughput associated with forming tubes having varying thickness.

A method and a device for separating a wound tube (1) which includes interlocking windings (11, 12, 13, 14) of a metal strip (2) are provided, the wound tube (1) is welded in a predetermined axial region (10) and is then severed within the region (10) in a radial plane (6). The method furthermore defines that the wound tube (1) is axially compressed in the predetermined region prior to welding, such that the windings (11, 12, 13, 14) bear against one another in the region (10), and the welding is carried out along a predetermined number of turns (11, 12) in the region (10).

Spiral forming methods can be used to join edges of a rolled material along a spiral joint to form conical and/or cylindrical structures. Alignment of the edges of the rolled material can be controlled in a wrapping direction as the material is being joined along the spiral joint to form the structure. By controlling alignment of the edges of the material as the edges of the material are being joined, small corrections can be made over the course of forming the structure facilitating control over geometric tolerances of the resulting spiral formed structure.

Spiral forming methods can be used to join edges of a rolled material along a spiral joint to form conical and/or cylindrical structures. Alignment of the edges of the rolled material can be controlled in a wrapping direction as the material is being joined along the spiral joint to form the structure. By controlling alignment of the edges of the material as the edges of the material are being joined, small corrections can be made over the course of forming the structure facilitating control over geometric tolerances of the resulting spiral formed structure.

A method and apparatus are disclosed. The method includes the steps of providing an elongate sheet having a uniform thickness and a first and further spaced apart long edge, to a first pair of a plurality of spaced apart pairs of opposed forming roller elements, and via the pairs of roller elements, progressively forming a cross-sectional profile in the sheet that comprises a body portion comprising a folded central region of the sheet and a first and further wing portion that each extend away from the body portion and terminate at a respective long edge of the sheet, and securing adjacent regions of the wing portions and/or opposed regions of the body portion together thereby providing a windable elongate tape element having laterally immobilised wing portions.