Draftex Industries Limited

Heinz J Hennen

Robert G Bright

A tool for applying a channel-shaped sealing strip to a flange comprises two parallel rollers which are contra-rotated by a motor which engage opposite sides of the sealing strip to press it onto the flange, downward pressure onto the base of the sealing strip being maintained by a non-driven roller rotatable perpendicularly to the other two rollers. The latter roller is vertically supported on supports whose upper ends are slidable within chambers and sprung-loaded downwards. The tool must exert sufficient pressure downwardly onto the inverted base of the sealing strip via the perpendicularly arranged roller to push the supports of this roller upwardly such that a striker actuates a pneumatic or electrical switch. When this happens, the motor is energized and the other two rollers drive the tool along the flange, thus pushing the strip firmly onto the flange. The switch stops the motor automatically if insufficient downward pressure is applied.

Apparatus for fitting flexible strips

A tool is described for assembling a length of sealing strip onto a mounting flange around a door opening in a motor vehicle. The strip has a channel-shaped gripping part whose walls are initially splayed apart so that it is an easy fit onto the flange. It carries a tubular sealing part. The tool comprises a roller which engages the outside of the base of the channel of the gripping part and a perpendicularly mounted roller which engages the outside of the tubular sealing part of the strip and, via this sealing part which it compresses, exerts a side force on the corresponding wide wall of the channel of the gripping part. A flange rigid with the roller engaging the gripping part itself engages the opposite side wall of the gripping part. The two rollers may or may not be geared together and are driven via a flexible drive shaft by a motor. The tool thus travels along the length of the sealing strip which is drawn off a coil or other supply. As the tool travels, it closes the splayed apart walls of the gripping part towards each other so as to press them firmly into gripping and sealing contact with the surfaces of the flange, in which position they subsequently hold themselves.

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Viersen, Germany

Heinz J Hennen