Apparatus for manufacturing a bellows seals

Claim 2

Apparatus for manufacturing a thin walled flexible bellows having multiple convolutions along the axial length of said bellows, said apparatus comprising means for rotating a tubular workpiece blank having an inside wall surface and an outside wall surface, cutting means for sequentially machining a first generally Vshaped groove into one of said surfaces of said tubular blank and a second generally V-shaped groove into the other of said surfaces, said grooves being axially spaced a distance equal to approximately one half the pitch of said convolutions, and stop means for repeatedly and sequentially repositioning said cutting means at distances axially spaced through increments of one pitch diameter of said convolutions so as to enable said cutting means to alternately and sequentially machine V-shaped grooves throughout the axial length of said multiple convolutions, said stop means including a rotatable drum having varying length stop means mounted thereon.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said V-shaped groove cutting means includes at least two cutting tools, each of which has cutting edges which define included angles of inclination of approximately 47*.

Claim 4

Apparatus for manufacturing a thin walled flexible bellows having multiple convolutions along the axial length of said bellows, said apparatus being adapted for use in combination with a lathe having a bed, a headstock mounted upon said bed and a carriage longitudinally movable over said bed, said apparatus comprising means mounted upon said headstock for supporting and rotating a tubular workpiece blank having an inside wall surface and an outside wall surface, cutting tool support means mounted upon said carriage for longitudinal movement with said carriage, said support means comprising a base secured to said carriage, a pair of independently movable tool slides mounted upon said base for transverse movement relative to a workpieCe blank mounted in said blank supporting means, an inside wall surface cutting tool having a generally V-shaped cutting edge mounted in one of said slides and an outside wall surface cutting tool having a generally V-shaped cutting edge mounted in the other of said slides, said cutting edges of said tools being axially spaced a distance equal to approximately one half the pitch of said convolutions, and stop means operatively associated with said carriage for repeatedly and sequentially repositioning said carriage at distances incrementally spaced from said headstock one pitch diameter of said convolutions so as to enable said cutting tools to alternately and sequentially machine V-shaped grooves throughout the axial length of said multiple convolutions, said stop means including a rotatable drum having varying length stop means mounted thereon.

Claim 5

Apparatus for manufacturing a thin walled flexible bellows having multiple convolutions along the axial length of said bellows, said apparatus being adapted for use in combination with a lathe having a bed, a headstock mounted upon said bed and a carriage longitudinally movable over said bed, said apparatus comprising means mounted upon said headstock for supporting and rotating a tubular workpiece blank having an inside wall surface and an outside wall surface, cutting tool support means mounted upon said carriage for longitudinal movement with said carriage, said support means comprising a base secured to said carriage, a pair of independently movable tool slides mounted upon said base for transverse movement relative to a workpieCe blank mounted in said blank supporting means, an inside wall surface cutting tool having a generally V-shaped cutting edge mounted in one of said slides and an outside wall surface cutting tool having a generally V-shaped cutting edge mounted in the other of said slides, said cutting edges of said tools being axially spaced a distance equal to approximately one half the pitch of said convolutions, and stop means operatively associated with said carriage for repeatedly and sequentially repositioning said carriage at distances incrementally spaced from said headstock one pitch diameter of said convolutions so as to enable said cutting tools to alternately and sequentially machine V-shaped grooves throughout the axial length of said multiple convolutions, said stop means including a rotatable drum having varying length stop means mounted thereon.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 3 in which each of said cutting tools has cutting edges which define included angles of inclination of approximately 47*.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 3 which further includes second stop means operatively associated with each of said tool slides for limiting the depth of cut made by each of said tools.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 5 in which said second stop means comprises at least one abutment mounted upon said bed and an adjustable stop mounted upon each of said slides and engageable with said abutment.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 5 which further includes at least one handle secured to said slides for effecting manual infeed of said cutting tools into said workpiece blank.