Apparatus for applying an end plug to an end of a fuel rod tube
US4679377A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 12, 1986 |
| Grant date | Jul 14, 1987 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 12, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/53657
- WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An improved apparatus for applying an end plug to an end of a fuel rod tube includes a housing having spaced inlet and outlet ends adapted to receive the end plug and tube end, respectively, one of three alternative embodiments of a guide arrangement which defines an internal guide channel aligned in tandem with the inlet and outlet ends of the housing along a common axis, and cylindrical ram movable along the axis for engaging and moving the end plug from the inlet end through the guide channel to the outlet end where the plug is applied to the tube end. The guide arrangement, whether is takes the form of a deformable bushing, a series of radially-mounted inwardly-biased runners or a series of parallel-mounted inwardly-biased rolls, defines the guide channel with a cross-sectional size smaller than that of the end plug and when contacted by the moving plug yieldably expands such that the guide channel conforms to the external surface of the end plug and thereby establishes and maintains guiding contact therewith as the end plug is moved through the guide channel.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.