Process and apparatus for forming a terminal closure onto a length of worm-shaped, shirred tubular material, in particular an artificial sausage casing for the production of sausage.

摘要

To close the end of a caterpillarshaped wrinkled tube section (122), particularly of synthetic gut for producing sausages, a few rotations are imparted to a tool pressed against the end of the section so as to bring that end to engage, without torsion, the periphery of the tool. The tool is then slightly withdrawn and it is further rotated so as to form, from the tube connected to the tool, a coreless rove (126), moving inside the caterpillar. Finally the tool is completely withdrawn from the tube. With such method, the danger of braking the tube disappears and the number of torsions may be substantially increased when a complete filling is desired. To separate the tube from the tool, a brief reversed rotation direction is sufficient. The tool is appropriately comprised of a rotary and axially moving mandrel (124), with a periphery appropriate to friction driving preferably of square shape, which may be a portion of the axially displacable shaft (86), which may be actuated by means of an axially moving drive (100) and axially translated by a piston (92) against a spring (102). Such arrangement allows a complete mechanization of the torsionning process.