Pipe joints or couplings – With fluid pressure seal – Flexible lip
Patent
1989-09-11
1991-10-15
Arola, Dave W.
Pipe joints or couplings
With fluid pressure seal
Flexible lip
265177, 265373, F16L 1700
Patent
active
050568337
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a resiliently flexible pipe connection, and, in particular, to a flexible pipe coupling for interconnecting two pipes in a pressure-tight manner of the type consisting of a tubular metal casing formed with a longitudinal gap, a tensioning screw device secured thereto for reducing the width of the longitudinal gap, and a sealing sleeve of resiliently flexible material arranged within the casing and having formed on both free ends thereof sealing lips of predetermined thickness extending radially inwardly with respect to the sleeve.
Such mechanical pipe connections of the flexible couplings type are provided for connecting together smooth-ended pipes of any material. Moreover, the couplings can be adjusted in the factory so that they fit over pipes even when the pipes are of the maximum size permitted within their tolerance range. The metal casing is tightened in the circumferential direction of the pipes by means of the screw device. A reliable sealing effect is ensured by the sleeve with its sealing lips. The sleeve adapts itself to changing pressures within the pipe. To a certain extent also differences in the outside diameters of the pipes to be interconnected can be compensated for by the known pipe couplings. Thus, for example, in the case of pipes having a nominal diameter of 50 mm to 350 mm, differences of between 1.5 mm and 4 mm can be compensated for solely by the elasticity of the sealing lips together with the flexibility of the metal casing. In cases where there are larger differences in the outside diameters of the pipes, there is the disadvantage that such a compensation is no longer possible.
In the field of gas and water supply as well as in water discharge apparatus the joining together of existing old conduits with pipes of present day manufacture, which in some cases may be composed of different materials and have a greater or smaller diameter than the existing old pipe, using the resiliently flexible pipe connections described above is not possible in cases where this dimensional difference exceeds several mm. A requirement to join tubular conduits of different outside diameter may also arise where the wall thickness of the conduit parts are different due to the conduit parts being designed to operate to different nominal pressures or due to the conduit parts being made of different materials having different strengths and therefore requiring different wall thickness to withstand a given pressure.
In our patent specification GB 2180311 (and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,541) we described a resilient flexible pipe coupling for interconnecting two pipes in a pressure-tight manner, comprising a tubular metal casing formed with a longitudinal gap and a tensioning screw device secured to the casing for reducing the width of the longitudinal gap. A sealing sleeve of resiliently flexible material is positioned within the casing and has sealing lips of predetermined thickness formed on both of its free ends. The sealing lips extending radially-inwardly with respect to the pipes and have different radial thicknesses relative to each other. Advantageously, the difference in radial thickness of the sealing lips is such that differences in the diameters of the pipes to be connected of up to 30 mm or even more can be compensated for. At the same time the flexible characteristics of the coupling are preserved which enable it to compensate for changes in the temperature of the pipes especially dissimilar rates of expansion and contraction caused by temperature change on two different pipe materials joined within the same coupling, and for angular deflections in the joints.
The present invention relates to improvements in the coupling described in our specification GB 2180311.
According to the present invention in a first aspect there is provided a resiliently flexible pipe coupling for interconnecting two pipes in a pressure-tight manner, comprising a tubular sealing sleeve of resilient flexible material and an adjustable tubular metal casing for clamping the sealin
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Taylor Neil J. T.
Taylor William
Webb Ian R.
Arola Dave W.
Taylor Kerr ( Couplings) Limited
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