Apparatus for depositing materials on surfaces of revolution

Claim 2

Apparatus comprising: a form having a surface of revolution generated by revolving a curved line about an axis of revolution, and which curved line is made up of at least one circular arc the center of which falls in a first imaginary plane passing through said curved line and said axis of revolution, means rotatably supporting said form about its axis of revolution with the axis of revolution positioned horizontally and with said first imaginary plane being horizontal, a first arm positioned above said surface of revolution in a second plane generally parallel to said first plane, support means for rotatably supporting said arm in said second plane for swinging movement about a vertical support axis which is normal to said second plane and which passes through said center of said circular arc, means for rotating said surface of revolution about said axis of revolution, material deposition means supported from said first arm and constructed and arranged to deposit material on the portion of said surface of revolution through which said first imaginary plane passes, drive means for oscillating said first arm to move said deposition means over at least a portion of said curved line, and control means for varying the speed of said drive means to provide a rate of movement which is generally inversely proportional to the distance of said material deposition means from said axis of revolution.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said form is generated by a curved line having a second circular arc whose center also falls in said first plane, said support means comprising: a second horizontal arm supporting said first arm, said second arm being pivoted about said support axis and being connected to said first arm about a vertical bifurcation axis spaced from said support axis by a distance to pass over said center of said second circular arc, said drive means comprising: a first drive motor for rotating said second arm about said support axis and a second drive motor for producing relative rotation of said arms about said bifurcation axis, said control means programming said second drive means to move said deposition means over said second circular arc while said first drive motor is stationary and then stopping said second drive motor and operating said first drive motor to move said deposition means over said first circular arc.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a stepping motor for rotating said arm, and said control means comprises a tape means having a programmed spacing of clockwise and counterclockwise control signals for said stepping motor.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said support means includes a second arm pivotally Supported on an axis generally normal to said plane and supporting said first mentioned arm, and said drive means includes a second stepping motor for rotating said second arm.

Claim 6

Apparatus for producing glass fiber reinforced plastic heads for tanks comprising: a form having an exterior surface of revolution corresponding to the shape of head to be produced and an axis of revolution passing therethrough, said form also having a center of curvature for at least a portion of said surface, means rotatably supporting said form for rotation about said axis, spray means for discharging resin and fibers onto said form, an articulated arm rotatably supported about a support axis positioned at generally right angles to said axis of revolution and at a predetermined distance from said center of curvature, said articulated arm having inner and outer arm portions joined by a hinge having an articulation axis parallel to said support axis and spaced from said support axis by a distance generally equal to said predetermined distance, said outer arm supporting said spray means for movement in a plane generally passing through said axis of revolution, means for rotating said articulated arm to bring said hinge generally over said center of curvature, first motor means for rotating said outer arm about said hinge, and control means causing said first motor means to rotate said outer arm at a speed generally inversely proportional to the distance of said spray means from said axis of revolution of said form.

Claim 7

Apparatus for producing glass fiber reinforced plastic heads for tanks comprising: a form having an exterior surface of revolution corresponding to the shape of head to be produced and an axis of revolution passing therethrough, said form also having a center of curvature for at least a portion of said surface, means rotatably supporting said form for rotation about said axis, spray means for discharging resin and fibers onto said form, an articulated arm rotatably supported about a support axis positioned at generally right angles to said axis of revolution and at a predetermined distance from said center of curvature, said articulated arm having inner and outer arm portions joined by a hinge having an articulation axis parallel to said support axis and spaced from said support axis by a distance generally equal to said predetermined distance, said outer arm supporting said spray means for movement in a plane generally passing through said axis of revolution, means for rotating said articulated arm to bring said hinge generally over said center of curvature, first motor means for rotating said outer arm about said hinge, and control means causing said first motor means to rotate said outer arm at a speed generally inversely proportional to the distance of said spray means from said axis of revolution of said form.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said form has a knuckle curvature and a crown curvature which are tangent to each other in said plane and said knuckle radius having a center of curvature in said plane, said support axis being located in line with said centers of said crown and knuckle curvatures, said hinge of said articulated arm being spaced from said support axis by a distance equal to said crown radius minus said knuckle radius, second motor means for rotating said inner arm, and said control means causing said first motor means to rotate said hinge to swing said outer arm in line with said inner arm and thereafter stop said first motor means and actuate said second motor means to move said spray means over said crown.

Claim 9

Apparatus for depositing material on a surface of revolution comprising: first and second forms each having an external surface of revolution extending about an axis of revolution with means for rotating said forms about their respective axis of revolution, material deposition means, bifurcated support means for moving said deposition means in a plane passing generally through said axes of revolution, said bifurcated support means comprising inner and outer arms with said outer arm pivotedly carried by said inner arm about a bifurcation axis and said inner arm being pivotedly supported about a support axis with both axes being normal to said plane, said forms being located equidistantly from said support axis and each form having at least one center of curvature in said plane, said inner arm being arranged to move said bifurcation axis in an arc passing over each of said centers of curvature of said forms and said outer arm being arranged to swing said material deposition means in an arc about said centers of curvature, drive means for moving said outer arm about said bifurcation axis and for moving said inner arm about said support axis, and control means for varying the speed of said drive means to move said deposition means over each of said forms at a rate which is generally inversely proportional to the distance of said material deposition means from the axis of revolution of the form over which it is moving.

Claim 10

Apparatus for depositing material on a surface of revolution comprising: first and second forms each having an external surface of revolution extending about an axis of revolution with means for rotating said forms about their respective axis of revolution, material deposition means, bifurcated support means for moving said deposition means in a plane passing generally through said axes of revolution, said bifurcated support means comprising inner and outer arms with said outer arm pivotedly carried by said inner arm about a bifurcation axis and said inner arm being pivotedly supported about a support axis with both axes being normal to said plane, said forms being located equidistantly from said support axis and each form having at least one center of curvature in said plane, said inner arm being arranged to move said bifurcation axis in an arc passing over each of said centers of curvature of said forms and said outer arm being arranged to swing said material deposition means in an arc about said centers of curvature, drive means for moving said outer arm about said bifurcation axis and for moving said inner arm about said support axis, and control means for varying the speed of said drive means to move said deposition means over each of said forms at a rate which is generally inversely proportional to the distance of said material deposition means from the axis of revolution of the form over which it is moving.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said axis of revolution of said forms intersects each other on said support axis.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said forms have both knuckle and crown radii which are tangent, said support axis of said inner arm being spaced from said bifurcation axis for said outer arm by a distance generAlly equal to the spacing of said center of curvature of said knuckle radius from the center of curvature of said crown radius.

Claim 13

Apparatus for producing glass fiber reinforced plastic heads for tanks comprising: a pair of forms each having an exterior surface of revolution corresponding to the shape of head to be produced and an axis of revolution passing therethrough, said forms also having centers of curvature for at least a portion of their surface, means rotatably supporting said forms for rotation about their axes of revolution, spray means for discharging resinous fibers onto said forms, an articulated arm rotatably supported about a support axis positioned at generally right angles to said axes of revolution at their point of intersection, said articulated arm having inner and outer arm portions joined by a hinge having a bifurcation axis parallel to said support axis and spaced from said support axis by a distance generally equal to the spacing of said centers of curvature from said support axis, said outer arm supporting said spray means for movement in a plane generally passing through said axes of revolution, means for rotating said articulated arm to bring said hinge means generally over said centers of curvature, first motor means for rotating said outer arm about said hinge, and control means causing said first motor means to rotate said outer arm to move said spray means at a rate generally inversely proportional to the distance of said spray means from the axis of revolution of the form over which it is situated.

Claim 14

Apparatus for producing glass fiber reinforced plastic heads for tanks comprising: a pair of forms each having an exterior surface of revolution corresponding to the shape of head to be produced and an axis of revolution passing therethrough, said forms also having centers of curvature for at least a portion of their surface, means rotatably supporting said forms for rotation about their axes of revolution, spray means for discharging resinous fibers onto said forms, an articulated arm rotatably supported about a support axis positioned at generally right angles to said axes of revolution at their point of intersection, said articulated arm having inner and outer arm portions joined by a hinge having a bifurcation axis parallel to said support axis and spaced from said support axis by a distance generally equal to the spacing of said centers of curvature from said support axis, said outer arm supporting said spray means for movement in a plane generally passing through said axes of revolution, means for rotating said articulated arm to bring said hinge means generally over said centers of curvature, first motor means for rotating said outer arm about said hinge, and control means causing said first motor means to rotate said outer arm to move said spray means at a rate generally inversely proportional to the distance of said spray means from the axis of revolution of the form over which it is situated.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said forms have a knuckle curvature and a crown curvature which are tangent to each other in said plane with the center of said crown curvatures falling upon said support axes, said knuckle radii also having centers of curvature in said plane, said support axis being located in line with said centers of said crown and knuckle curvatures, said hinge of said articulated arm being spaced from said support axis by a distance equal to said crown radius minus said knuckle radius, second motor means for rotating said inner arm, and said control means causing said first motor means to rotate said hinge to swing said outer arm in line with said inner arm and thereafter stop said first motor means and actuate said second motor means to move said spray means over said crown.

Claim 16

Apparatus for producing glass fiber reinforced plastic heads for tanks comprising: a pair of forms each having an exterior surface of revolution corresponding to the shape of head to be produced and an axis of revolution passing therethrough, said forms also having centers of curvature for at least a portion of their surfaces, means rotatably supporting said forms for rotation about said axes of revolution, spray means for discharging resin and fibers onto said forms, an articulated arm rotatably supported about a support axis positioned at generally right angles to said axes of revolution, said forms being positioned with their centers of curvature spaced at a predetermined distance from said support axis, said articulated arm having inner and outer arm portions joined by a hinge having a bifurcation axis parallel to said support axis and spaced from said support axis by a distance generally equal to said predetermined distance, said outer arm supporting said spray means for movement in a plane generally passing through said axes of revolution, means for rotating said articulated arm to swing said hinge generally over said centers of curvature, first motor means for rotating said outer arm about said hinge, and control means causing said first motor means to rotate said outer arm to move said spray means at a speed generally inversely proportional to the distance of said spray means from said axis of revolution of the form over which it is positioned.

Claim 17

Apparatus for producing glass fiber reinforced plastic heads for tanks comprising: a pair of forms each having an exterior surface of revolution corresponding to the shape of head to be produced and an axis of revolution passing therethrough, said forms also having centers of curvature for at least a portion of their surfaces, means rotatably supporting said forms for rotation about said axes of revolution, spray means for discharging resin and fibers onto said forms, an articulated arm rotatably supported about a support axis positioned at generally right angles to said axes of revolution, said forms being positioned with their centers of curvature spaced at a predetermined distance from said support axis, said articulated arm having inner and outer arm portions joined by a hinge having a bifurcation axis parallel to said support axis and spaced from said support axis by a distance generally equal to said predetermined distance, said outer arm supporting said spray means for movement in a plane generally passing through said axes of revolution, means for rotating said articulated arm to swing said hinge generally over said centers of curvature, first motor means for rotating said outer arm about said hinge, and control means causing said first motor means to rotate said outer arm to move said spray means at a speed generally inversely proportional to the distance of said spray means from said axis of revolution of the form over which it is positioned.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said forms are spherically shaped.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said means for rotating said inner arm is a second motor means, And said control means functions to rotate said outer arm about the center of curvature of one form, to thereafter actuate said second motor means to bring said hinge over the center of curvature of the other form, and to thereafter actuate said first motor means to rotate said outer arm about the center of curvature of the other form.

Claim 20

Apparatus for depositing material on curved surfaces comprising: a pedestal, a generally horizontal inner arm pivotally supported by said pedestal about a generally vertical support axis, a generally horizontal outer arm pivotally supported by said inner arm about a generally vertical hinge axis, a depending leg carried by said outer arm, material deposition means supported by said depending leg and arranged to project material inwardly toward said hinge axis, a pair of stepper motors one for rotating said outer arm about said vertical hinge axis and the other for rotating said inner arm about said vertical support axis, and control means constructed and arranged to actuate said one of said motors to opposite sides of a set position with a speed generally inversely proportional to its distance from said set position.

Claim 21

Apparatus for depositing material on curved surfaces comprising: a pedestal, a generally horizontal inner arm pivotally supported by said pedestal about a generally vertical support axis, a generally horizontal outer arm pivotally supported by said inner arm about a generally vertical hinge axis, a depending leg carried by said outer arm, material deposition means supported by said depending leg and arranged to project material inwardly toward said hinge axis, a pair of stepper motors one for rotating said outer arm about said vertical hinge axis and the other for rotating said inner arm about said vertical support axis, and control means constructed and arranged to actuate said one of said motors to opposite sides of a set position with a speed generally inversely proportional to its distance from said set position.

Claim 22

The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said set position occurs at the inline position of said inner and outer arms.

Claim 23

The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said control means is constructed and arranged to actuate said one of said arms to move said outer arm a predetermined distance to either side of its inline position with respect to the inner arm at a speed which varies inversely proportionally to the displacement of the outer arm from the inline position, said control means being further constructed and arranged to abruptly stop said one of said motors and start said other of said motors at said inline position of said arms to move said inner arm through a predetermined angle following which it stops said other one of said motors and starts said one of said motors to move said outer arm to the opposite side of said inline condition of said arms.