The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 14, 1987
Filed:
Jun. 12, 1986
Stuart L Rieben, Mt. Lebanon Twp., Allegheny County, PA (US);
Mark E Wylie, Mt. Lebanon Twp., Allegheny County, PA (US);
Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (US);
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.