Connecting two ends of pneumatic tubing?

[tomy]

Any tips on fusing two ends of pneumatic tubing for our intake? We found these and was wondering if anyone has experience with them?

[JR0405]

What do you mean by for your intake, is there a reason as to why you can't cut a piece to be the desired length?

[GreyingJay]

I assume they want to fuse the two ends to make a continuous loop, and use the tubing like a belt.

[dradel]

wouldn't use pneumatic tubing use poly cord
http://www.wcproducts.net/catalogsea...lt/?q=polycord

[artdutra04]

Pneumatic tubing with barbed connectors might work (such as on a prototype), but for your competition robot you will likely have more success using polycord.

Polycord, also known by the more generic names of round belting or urethane belting, is available in three types: hollow round, solid round, and flat belts. The hollow core version uses barbed connectors, and is generally not as durable as the solid or flat belt varieties. For the solid and flat belting, you use heat to melt and fuse the ends of the belt together.

Both round versions work on pulleys that have grooves in them to keep the belts aligned. The flat belt works on a pulley that (seemingly counter-intuitively at first glance) actually runs on a raised ridge. This ridge is actually what keeps the flat belt aligned and prevents it from "walking" down your pulley (the difference in tangential speed between the raised section and the lower section is what keeps the flat belt aligned on the raised ridge).

For fusing solid polycord, you can use a lighter or small torch to melt the ends of the cord (use the heat to melt, don't catch the polycord on fire), then press the two ends together using the inside of aluminum angle to keep the cords aligned.

[AndyBare]

Originally Posted by dradel

wouldn't use pneumatic tubing use poly cord
http://www.wcproducts.net/catalogsea...lt/?q=polycord

Yeah I +1 to that. My team had a habasit sponsorship years ago, and we used this material for our 2012 intake. It was very similar to what you may see this year. Our bot utilized an elevator intake, which then dropped gamepieces into a gravity-fed shooter. The polycord was wrapped around rubber coated shafts (grooves for the polycords were cut into the rubber, allowing them to find their places, and helping them to stay on track.

[Edit] I would like to add that we used round polycord.

[FrankJ]

Keep in mind pneumatic tube comes in a wide variety of plastics. Some would be useful in this application, some not so much. Better to use polycord as others have said.

[pipsqueaker]

Use polycord, pneumatic tubing isn't nearly as flexible as an intake would require it to be

The plugs are good, but in my experience with polycord they're not immune to failing.

Some plastic-metal superglue will do the trick though. I like to use a bit to bond the plug to the tube, mate the two ends, and then glue those mated ends together as well

[catmanjake]

Originally Posted by dradel

wouldn't use pneumatic tubing use poly cord
http://www.wcproducts.net/catalogsea...lt/?q=polycord

when I look at this website, all I see are pulleys.
Have a website showing poly cord?

[AndyBare]

Originally Posted by catmanjake

Have a website showing poly cord?

http://www.durabelt.com/polycord.php

[frcguy]

Originally Posted by catmanjake

when I look at this website, all I see are pulleys.

Have a website showing poly cord?

http://www.wcproducts.net/WCP-0129