Pipes and tubular conduits – With closures and plugs
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-06
2002-05-21
Hook, James (Department: 3752)
Pipes and tubular conduits
With closures and plugs
C138S106000, C138S108000, C138S110000, C138S112000, C138S116000, C138S117000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06390135
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a conduit assembly used to permit elongated objects such as wires, cables, hoses and pipes to pass through partitions such as walls and floors.
FIGS. 13 and 14
show a process of forming a passage structure for allowing cables
62
to pass through a partition
63
. The passage structure has a dual structure. In
FIG. 13
, installation of the lower side of the passage structure has been substantially completed, and the upper side of the passage structure is in the early stage of installation. In
FIG. 14
, installation of both the upper and the lower sides of the passage structure is completely finished. In this passage structure, the cables
62
are supported by a ladder-like rack
61
. Each rack
61
is made of a pair of rails and a plurality of rods (only one shown) connecting the rails.
Installation of the passage structure in the partition
63
will now be described. First, the cables
62
are inserted in a through hole
64
. Then, the cables
62
are placed on the rack
61
. With the position of the rack
61
adjusted with respect to the through hole
64
, a fireproof material
65
such as rock wool is filled in the space between the outer surface of the cables
62
and the racks
61
and the inner surface of the through hole
64
. Through holes
67
corresponding to the racks
61
and the cables
62
are formed in fireproof boards
66
. The racks
61
and the cables
62
are inserted in the through holes
67
, and the fireproof board
66
is fixed to the outer surface of the partition
63
(as shown by the lower side of the passage structure of FIG.
13
). Finally, fireproof sealant is charged into the space between the inner surface of the through holes and the outer surfaces of the racks
61
and the cables
62
(the state shown in
FIG. 14
) to form a fireproof seal
68
. In this way, the cables
62
are supported on the racks
61
and pass through the partition
63
.
However, in the conventional method of installation, the racks
61
and the cables
62
have to be held by a worker while the fireproof sealant
68
is being charged to fix their positions with respect to the through hole
64
. This makes installation troublesome. Also, the space between the inner surface of the through hole
64
and the outer surface of the racks
61
and the cables
62
is relatively large. Therefore, since the amount of fireproof material
65
that can be filled at one time is limited even if a caulking machine is used, filling takes a long time. Further, the fireproof material
65
may move downward from its weight, and this makes it difficult to fill the fireproof material
65
without leaving space.
Furthermore, through holes
67
must be formed on a fireproof plate
66
to correspond to the shapes of the rack
61
and the cables
62
. The through holes
67
are formed at the site of construction prior to installation of the passage structure. This is troublesome work, which lowers the efficiency of the installation.
On the other hand, when the number of the cables
62
has to be increased later, the installed passage structure must be dissembled. Then, cables are added and the passage structure is reconstructed. Therefore, increasing the number of cables
62
after installation is extremely inefficient and results in high costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The first objective of the present invention is to provide a conduit device and its method for forming a passage structure that fixes elongated objects such as wires, hoses, cables, and pipes in a partition.
The second objective of the present invention is to provide a conduit device that permits additional elongated objects to be passed through the conduit after an initial installation of the conduit device.
To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a conduit assembly for permitting an elongated object to pass through a through hole formed in a partition. The through hole has a first opening and a second opening opposite to the first opening. The conduit assembly has a conduit and a fixing material. The conduit is located within the through hole. The conduit has a first end located adjacent to the first opening, a second end located adjacent to the second opening and a plurality of ports located at one of the first and the second ends. The elongated object is inserted into at least one of the ports. The fixing material fixes the conduit to the through hole.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.
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patent: 3731448 (1973-05-01), Leo
patent: 3793793 (1974-02-01), Dobbins
patent: 3895830 (1975-07-01), Madlem
patent: 4093818 (1978-06-01), Thwaltes et al.
patent: 4147449 (1979-04-01), Kato
patent: 4304079 (1981-12-01), Thorsten
patent: 4347998 (1982-09-01), Loree
patent: 4355664 (1982-10-01), Cook et al.
patent: 4419535 (1983-12-01), O'Hara
patent: 5415155 (1995-05-01), Cohen et al.
patent: 5560397 (1996-10-01), Miller et al.
patent: 5738147 (1998-04-01), Mestres
patent: 39 23 197 (1990-02-01), None
patent: 39 02 238 (1990-08-01), None
patent: 93 01 863 (1993-05-01), None
patent: 0 278 544 (1988-08-01), None
patent: 2 634 954 (1990-02-01), None
Akerman & Senterfitt
Hook James
Mirai Industry Co., Ltd.
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