Pipes and tubular conduits – Repairing – Patches
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-20
2001-10-02
Hook, James (Department: 3752)
Pipes and tubular conduits
Repairing
Patches
C138S098000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296021
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a device to temporarily repair fluid leaks in rigid pipes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Fluid leaks in rigid pipes are commonly caused by punctures, blowouts, erosion or tears. A repair in such instances involves a shut down of fluid flow in the damaged pipe segment of the pipeline. To temporarily contain such a leak, it is necessary to shut down fluid flow and seal the area where the leak has occurred quickly to prevent excessive escape of fluid before permanent repair can be made. Rigid pipes for fluid transport may be of many different diameters, and in the prior art, leak repair devices were generally designed for particular pipe diameter sizes and consequently did not have the capability to form a temporary seal for a spectrum of diameters. U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,808 (the '808 patent) describes a leak repair device that utilizes a rigid compression sleeve having an internal lip to captively retain an O-ring made of a resilient material. The rigid compression sleeve described in the '808 patent is limited to use for a narrow spectrum of small pipe diameters and its rigidness consequently limits its practicality. Because the curvature of the rigid compression sleeve is fixed, and the O-ring of fixed diameter, there is a narrow range of pipe diameters which permit the O-ring to be compressed sufficiently against the rigid pipe to stop the loss of fluid. It is therefore desirable to have a semi-rigid, flexible cover member rather than a rigid compression sleeve such that under radial compression the semi-rigid flexible cover will adapt to the curvature of the rigid pipe and thus eliminate the necessity of variously sized rigid compression sleeves and O-rings. In the prior art, the toroidal O-ring having a central void region permitted fluid escape between the compressive sleeve and the O-ring. It is also desirable to have a membrane integral with an O-ring to seal the damaged area of the pipe to form an airtight seal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There is, therefore, provided according to the present invention, a single leak repair device adaptable for repairing fluid leaks for a variety of diameters of rigid pipes.
The present invention is directed to an elastomeric seal member held by a semi-rigid flexible cover member such that the flexible cover member under sufficient compression will adapt to the curvature of the rigid pipe and compress the elastomeric seal member against the rigid pipe to seal a leak. In the preferred embodiment of this invention, a single leak repair device may be used to repair leaks in rigid pipe from one-half inch to twelve inch diameter pipes. The elastomeric seal member has an outer toroidal portion radially of a central axis and a continuous membrane portion integral with and peripherally enclosed by the toroidal outer portion. The central axis is concentric with the center of the toroidal portion and orthogonal to the membrane in the preferred embodiment. A semi-rigid, flexible cover member preferably made of a plastic material has a plurality of parallel slots that extend laterally across the surface of the cover member defining segments between the slots. Upon radial compression of the cover member against a rigid pipe, the segments adjoining the slots remain rigid but are permitted to move relative to each other at the adjoining slots to conform to the contour of the rigid pipe. A peripheral skirt extends axially from the surface of the cover member and is so dimensioned that the toroidal portion of the elastomeric seal is placed into bearing engagement with the skirt of the cover member and is restrained from radially expanding when the seal is under axial compression. To seal a fluid leak in a rigid pipe, the toroidal portion of the elastomeric seal is placed into bearing engagement with the skirt of the cover member and then placed over the area of the leak to radially enclose it. A clamp member associated with the semi-rigid flexible cover member is adapted for placement around the pipe and flexible cover member such that the flexible cover member will be placed in compression against the pipe as the clamp member is tightened. When the clamp member is sufficiently tightened, the outer toroidal portion of the elastomeric seal will be axially compressed against the pipe to form a seal against the pipe while the integral membrane portion of the elastomeric seal encapsulates the leak region and thus further seals and contains the escape of fluid through the leak repair device.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2279642 (1942-04-01), Schreiner
patent: 2520802 (1950-08-01), Hampton
patent: 2529411 (1950-11-01), Northrup
patent: 2581015 (1952-01-01), Graham
patent: 5199464 (1993-04-01), Savard
patent: 5247967 (1993-09-01), Bourque
patent: 5388617 (1995-02-01), Sasaki et al.
patent: 5497808 (1996-03-01), Schlund et al.
patent: 5706862 (1998-01-01), Meinerding, Sr.
Gotha Frederick
Hook James
Sachwin Products, Inc.
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