Pipeline lateral packer and felt combinations and methods...

Pipes and tubular conduits – Repairing – Patches

Reexamination Certificate

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C138S093000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06427725

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The following invention relates generally to pipeline lateral packers which are used extensively in pipes, tubes, conduits, etc. in the application of a “felt” impregnated with epoxy in order to seal a crack in or collapse of said pipes, tubes, conduits, etc. Specifically, the invention relates to the application of a lateral packer having a “top-hat” felt in communication therewith. The invention permits the placement of the “top-hat” felt in the joint that connects a feed line to a main line in order to inhibit infiltration of fluids and other material into the pipeline because of a crack at the joint caused by a shift in position of the main line or feed line or both.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Frequently, after a term of time, a pipeline, because of extrinsic phenomena, shifts from its original position. This shift in position causes undue stresses and strains on the pipeline. These stresses and strains particularly effect the integrity of the joints that connect any feeder lines to the main line. The result of this degradation in integrity yields cracks at the joint. These cracks permit fluid and other materials to enter into the pipeline and causes a contamination of the product being transported through the pipeline. The consequences of the contamination can range from destroying the usefulness of the product to excess cost in refining or cleaning the product because of an excess in material that has to be cleaned.
This excess cost in cleaning the product is readily illustrated with the treatment of sewage. There is a tendency within this segment of the art to have leakage at the joint between the main sewer line and each feeder line running from the real property that generates the sewage. The main concern of those skilled in this art is not raw sewage leaking out into the water table, although that is of an environmental concern to be dealt with accordingly; but one of clean water from the water table leaking into the sewer lines. This is known in the art as “infiltration”. The infiltration of ground water is of concern because of the cost associated with treating the sewage. The cost of treating the sewage from the main sewer line is approximately one to two dollars per U.S. gallon. If clean water is introduced into the system, then this also is treated along with the sewage which increases the number of gallons that must be treated by the sewage treatment plant. The more gallons that have to be treated increases the total amount of money needed to treat a municipality's waste. With municipalities' budgets always under scrutiny to reduce costs, any reduction in the total amount of material presented for treatment at the sewage treatment plant would provide a reduction in the overall costs of municipality's operating budget.
The prior art's solution to the infiltration of ground water has been to apply an internal sleeve in the area of the crack and through trolley mechanisms and adhere this internal sleeve to the internal surface of the pipeline. The drawbacks to this system are many. For one thing, the prior art requires the use of a pipeline trolley that is fed into the main sewer line at a man-hole junction. Prior to insertion into the pipeline, the trolley is fitted with an internal sleeve for placement adjacent the crack or breach. The trolley is then inserted in the pipeline and worked up to the area in the pipeline where the crack or breach is located. Then the trolley has to be manipulated into a position that facilitates placement of the sleeving onto the internal pipeline surface juxtaposed the crack or breach. Then the application and setting of the sleeving is done with the trolley. Upon the fixing of the sleeving on the internal pipe surface, the trolley is repositioned and then extracted from the pipeline. As seen from this description the operation of this procedure is complex and time consuming. The prior art estimates it takes approximately two man hours to complete this operation. This operation has to be done for each breach and if there are multiple breaches, the amount of time required could be totally unacceptable to users of the pipeline because of the inconvenience of not being able to use fixtures that utilize the pipeline.
The present invention alleves the drawbacks of the prior art. As will be described infra, the present invention permits quick and easy access to the breach and permits multiple breaches to be fixed concurrently thus reducing the total downtime of the pipeline.
Further, in the installation, testing and maintenance of pipelines, it becomes necessary to interrupt the flow of the material contained within the pipeline or to seal off areas of the pipeline and divert the flow. Plugs which are inflatable are widely used and have proven extremely reliable in service. It is extremely likely that workmen will have to be protected only by the effectiveness of the plug when working downstream from the fluid flow. Thus, it is essential that these plugs operate in their intended manner. Currently a wide variety of different types of plugs are on the market which generally perform satisfactorily.
The following prior art reflects the state of the art of which applicant is aware and is included herewith to discharge applicant's acknowledged duty to disclose relevant prior art. It is stipulated, however, that none of these references teach singly nor render obvious when considered in any conceivable combination the nexus of the instant invention as disclosed in greater detail hereinafter and as particularly claimed.
PATENT NO.
ISSUE DATE
INVENTOR
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is distinguishable over the known prior art in a multiplicity of ways. In its most elemental form, the invention takes into account the difficulties of installing an internal sleeve at a joint that constitutes the juncture of the main line and feeder line. To accommodate for the geometry of such a joint within a pipeline there is provided a late

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