Method and apparatus for coating tubular objects

Claim 2

The invention of claim 2, each carrier having vertically extensible apparatus for varying the height of the devices.

Claim 3

The invention of claim 1, said support including an overhead track, said structures each including an upright suspending the carriers from the track; and means having interengageable parts on the track and on the uprights respectively for maintaining the axes of rotation of the devices in parallelism with the longitudinal axis of the pipe section.

Claim 4

The invention of claim 1, and a retainer rotatably secured to each carrier respectively and disposed for engagement with the pipe section at the proximal end of the latter, whereby to prevent movement of the pipe section along its longitudinal axis relative to the devices.

Claim 5

The invention of claim 5 wherein the pipe section has an external, circumferential chamfer at each of said ends thereof respectively, each chamfer terminating in an outermost, annular feather edge, said retainers being disposed for engagement with the chamfers remote from and in spaced relationship to said edges.

Claim 6

In a pipe coating assembly, a row of aligned pipe supports disposed for continuous advancement in successive order of a train of elongated pipe sections to be coated along an essentially horizontal path of travel in substantial parallelism with the longitudinal axis of the sections, said supports including: a first support adapted for engagement with the sections therebeneath, said first support having means for advancing the sections along said path and simultaneously rotating the sections about said axis; a second support disposed to receive the sections as they emanate from the first support and including: an overhead track extending along said path, a pair of carriers suspended from the track for movement therealong, and a pair of opposed rollers mounted on each carrier respectively for rotation about axes parallel with said axes of the sections; and a third support disposed to receive the sections as they emanate from the second support and adapted for engagement with the sections therebeneath, said third support having means for advancing the sections along said path and simultaneously rotating the sections about said axes of the sections, each carrier being adapted for disposition between a pair of sections at the ends thereof with the rollers extending into the sections, exposing the exteriors of the sections for coating while the same are suspended from the second support, said track having means for raising the carriers as they travel along the track to place the rollers into supporting relationship to the sections, each pair of rollers being interconnected for rotation together as a unit, whereby rotation is imparted to one section supported by the carriers therebetween from a second section supported by the first support and by one of the carriers, and rotation is also imparted to said one section from a third section supported by the third support and by the other of said carriers.

Claim 7

The invention of claim 7 wherein is provided retainer means on each carrier respectively rotatably engaging the ends of the sections supported by the rollers thereof whereby the advancing means of the first support pushes the carriers along the track toward the third support.

Claim 8

The invention of claim 8 wherein each pipe section has an external, circumferential chamfer at each of said ends thereof respectiVely, each chamfer terminating in an outermost, annular feather edge, said retainer means being disposed for engagement with the chamfers remote from and in spaced relationship to said edges.

Claim 9

The invention of claim 7 wherein the first support is provided with means for varying the speed of advancement of the section carried thereby whereby to increase the distances between the sections prior to insertion of the carriers therebetween.

Claim 10

The invention of claim 7 wherein the third support is provided with means for varying the speed of advancement of the section carried thereby whereby to increase the distances between the sections prior to removal of the carriers from therebetween.