Need An Expansion or a Bead?--How segmented dies can form a tube's end

摘要

In the world of tube, one common end form type is an expansion. The reasons for expanding a tube's end are numerous and varied. For example, many pieces of equipment for the lawn care, health care, and marine industries require a tube that slips into the end of another for quick assembly. They also are used in swimming pool heat pump assemblies. The applications are endless, but the processes used to expand a tube's end are few. One process makes use of a segmented die set. A segmented die set consists of a set of segmented fingers and a tapered spear (see Figure 1). With a tube placed over the retracted segmented fingers, the tapered spear is forced into the segmented dies. As the taper spear travels farther toward the segmented fingers, the segmented fingers expand outward and away from the spear, thus expanding the tube.