A design for tank fabricating equipment and system comprises a frame supporting opposing arms for supporting one or more tank shells. The opposing arms pivotally engage opposing sides of the tank shells to force them into a circular cross-sectional shape. The arms are provided with rollers for aligning the tank shell with adjacent components during fabrication. In some embodiments, the rollers are provided with a circumferential channel to accommodate welding seams and to ensure alignment of butt joints.

A pipe support system. The pipe support system comprises a first wedge block and a second opposing wedge block. Each of the wedge blocks comprises a base having walls, and forming an angled top surface. The angled top surfaces face one another and support respective replaceable caps. The caps are configured to support a joint or section of pipe along an outer diameter of the pipe. Beneficially, the distance or spacing between the wedge blocks may be adjusted by an operator to accommodate sections of pipe having different diameters. A method for supporting a section of pipe is also provided.

A rollout wheel apparatus for performing welding. The rollout wheel apparatus may comprise a mount; a support section; a spindle extending from the support section; a substantially circular hub disposed on the spindle and free to rotate about the spindle, the hub having a narrow portion facing the support section and a wide portion facing the chuck, the hub further including a brake pad disposed about the circumference of the narrow portion; a brake, the brake being affixed to the support section and having a cantilever design, wherein the brake is cantilevered from the support section to a point located radially outwards from the brake pad of the substantially circular hub; and a chuck, the chuck comprising a chuck locking mechanism and a plurality of jaws.

A design for tank fabricating equipment and system comprises a frame supporting opposing arms for supporting one or more tank shells. The opposing arms pivotally engage opposing sides of the tank shells to force them into a circular cross-sectional shape. The arms are provided with rollers for aligning the tank shell with adjacent components during fabrication. In some embodiments, the rollers are provided with a circumferential channel to accommodate welding seams and to ensure alignment of butt joints.

An adjustable clamp for welding together pipes, the adjustable clamp having a first axis perpendicular to the pipes and a second axis parallel to the pipes. The adjustable clamp includes four clamp corners, four transverse bolts, two parallel bolts, two threaded inserts, and four spaces. Each clamp corner includes a first transverse aperture, a second transverse aperture, and a third parallel aperture. The first and second apertures are transverse relative to the first axis and the third aperture is parallel relative to the first axis. Each transverse bolt is securable within the first and second transverse apertures of the four clamp corners. Each parallel bolt is securable within the third apertures of the four clamp corners. Each threaded insert is placeable within the third apertures of the four clamp corners and each threaded insert is mated with a respective parallel bolt. Each spacer surrounds a portion of each transverse bolt.

A system and method for automatically joining a cut blank has a mandrel and clamps to conform the cut blank to the mandrel. The clamps include band clamps and pad clamps that pivot about axes that are obliquely angled with respect to the centerline of the mandrel. The clamp axes on one side of the centerline are a mirror image to the clamp axes on the other side. The cut blank has a line of symmetry and is clamped to the centerline of the mandrel with a locator bar. The clamps are then moved to a clamped position. In the clamped position, one edge of the cut blank meets another edge, and a robotic welder joins the edges.

An alignment apparatus suited for aligning structural members, such as, but not limited to pipes, structural beams, lumber, or any other suitable member. The alignment apparatus comprises a mounting base, an alignment receiver, and a fastening element. The mounting base comprises a first mounting body, a mounting cavity, and a second mounting body. The alignment receiver comprises a first receiver panel, an alignment cavity, a fastening aperture, and a second receiver panel. The mounting base is perpendicularly connected adjacent to the alignment receiver. The first receiver panel and the second receiver panel are vertically connected adjacent to the mounting base. The alignment cavity is positioned between the first receiver panel and the second receiver panel. The fastening aperture traverses through the first receiver panel. The fastening element is selectively connected along the fastening aperture.

A pipe welding stabilizer comprising a vise grip assembly, an adjustment assembly, and a pipe assembly. The vise grip assembly includes two vise grips mounted to either side of an adjustment assembly. The two vise grips include jaws with ridges that can be attached to a pipe surface. The vise grips help hold the pipe in place while it is being soldered to ensure it does not slip or fall before it is welded. The adjustment assembly includes pins that can be pushed in to adjust the width and reach of the grip of the two vise grips.

A pipe processing tool that is configured to deform the end of a pipe so that the circumferential shape of the end of the pipe generally matches the circumferential shape of an adjacent pipe end. Matching the circumferential shapes of the pipe ends is advantageous during a pipe attachment process. The pipe processing tool can include a deformation ring with a plurality of pipe deformation members. Each pipe deformation member faces radially inward and is actuatable in a radial direction toward and away from the center of the deformation ring in order to permit engagement with the pipe. Each pipe deformation member is individually and separately actuatable from the other pipe deformation members so that the circumferential shapes of the pipes can be altered by controlling suitable ones of the pipe deformation members.

Producing welded connections between inner tubes and tube support plates of a tube bundle for a product-to-product shell-and-tube heat exchanger by means of an auxiliary device is described. A production method includes pressing the end face of a tube support plate against the end face of the inner tubes in the direction of the inner tube longitudinal axes during welding operations with a first form fit, which is effective both radially and axially, immovably fixing the number of inner tubes corresponding to the tube layout pattern to each other by a second, detachable form fit of the auxiliary device, making a circumferential round weld orbitally, starting from the plate inner bore and the tube inner bore, in a single pass and continuously from radially inside to radially outside, and detaching and removing the auxiliary device from the welded tube bundle.