Pipe joints or couplings – Connector for conduit housing electromagnetic line: – Having box and connector
Patent
1994-04-26
1995-11-14
Arola, Dave W.
Pipe joints or couplings
Connector for conduit housing electromagnetic line:
Having box and connector
285 12, 285208, F16L 304
Patent
active
054660157
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to apparatus for mounting devices on wall surfaces which are difficult to access.
There is often the need to secure various objects to exterior surfaces of buildings which are high above the ground or are otherwise not readily accessible. Downspouts, wires and signs are just a few examples. The mounting of such items on the exterior of the building normally entails the use of ladders, scaffolding, or other more elaborate support systems depending on the height and type of building involved, The use of such devices is expensive, time-consuming and dangerous.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention allows the installation and securing of an item on a wall entirely from one side of the wall. This is advantageous in the situation where one side of the wall is not very accessible, e.g. when it is the outside wall of a building many stories above ground level. It also allows installation by just one person.
The invention comprises a through-wall sleeve assembly including a hollow cylindrical sleeve of, for example, metal or hard plastic material, which can be of various lengths depending on the thickness of the wall involved.
Attached to the one end of the sleeve is an umbrella-like flange of a resilient flexible membrane which can be radially constricted and folded upon itself in order to assume a collapsed position around the outer circumference of the sleeve. The flange in this folded position fits within an annular space lying within a larger outer circumference defined, at least generally, by another portion of the sleeve. This allows for ease in inserting the sleeve in a pre-drilled bore in a wall. Upon being pushed through the wall and when extending out of the wall, the resiliency of the flange material causes the flange to open up to a circumference which is greater than the outer circumference of the sleeve. In order to aid the resiliency of the flange in biasing the flange into an open position, a biasing mechanism similar to that used in a toggle bolt can be employed. A spring in the biasing mechanism biases the membrane outward and thereby assists the inherent resilient bias of the membrane of the flange in moving the flange to an open position.
Attached to the underside of the flange, in one embodiment of the present invention, is an elastomeric material which seals the open flange against the exterior surface of the wall in order to prevent the ingress of moisture, dirt and other elements into the bore in the wall. This material is attached to an inner surface of the flange by, for example, an adhesive. In another embodiment, the material at the larger end of the flange can be thickened to help provide a seal between the flange and the exterior surface of the wall. A nut with a washer is screwed onto a threaded trailing end of the sleeve to secure the sleeve in the bore and to draw the flange back against the wall to form a hermetic seal against the exterior of the wall. The biasing mechanism helps keep the flange from collapsing or inverting when the flange is drawn back.
An item especially well suited to be mounted at the exterior of the wall by using the sleeve according to the present invention is a nozzle. Such nozzles can be employed in connection with the present inventor's system for disposing of condensate from air conditioners, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,821.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross-section of a first embodiment of the through-wall sleeve assembly according to the present invention in position in an opening through a wall, including a nozzle mounted in a sleeve;
FIG. 2 is a left-end view of the sleeve assembly of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a right-end view of the sleeve assembly of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the sleeve assembly of FIG. 1 with the flange in a constricted condition inside an opening through the wall;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-section of a second embodiment of the through-wall sleeve assembly according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a side view of a
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