Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Composite article winding – By orbiting material supply
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-07
2003-04-15
Marcelo, Emmanuel (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Composite article winding
By orbiting material supply
C242S439300, C242S442000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06547177
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present application relates to a winding device or tool. In particular the present application is directed to a device for winding filamentary materials, for example for the application of pipe sealant material to a pipe.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RELATED TECHNOLOGY
Sealing materials are known. Such materials include materials for sealing threaded pipe joints, particularly for use in the plumbing industry for making joints in pipes for water-supply, water-discharge, heating and the like, but also having utility for other types of pipework e.g. in industrial plants.
It is well known for plumbers to use a two-part system of hemp fibre and paste for sealing threaded pipe fittings. Dry hemp fibre is usually supplied in loose unwoven form, and a quantity is taken and drawn out into a length. Hemp is also available in the form of a hank wound on a spool which can be held in a dispenser with a tubular dispensing guide for the hemp. In either case, a length of hemp is wrapped around the threaded area of a male pipe fitting. The paste may be applied to the fitting first, in which case the hemp is drawn through the paste as it is wrapped around the fitting, or alternatively (or in addition) the paste is applied over the hemp. The paste keeps the hemp in place on the male threaded fitting. The female threaded fitting is then applied and completes the joint. The joint can be adjusted later, if desired.
An alternative two-part system is available using polypropylene fibre instead of hemp.
Another commercially available sealing material is a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tape which is non-fibrous in nature. It is typically about 10 mm wide and 0.25-0.5 mm thick. In use, the tape is wound around the threaded area of a male fitting, with a number of overlaps used to build up a thickness as desired. The female threaded part is then applied to complete the assembly.
Georg Fischer Rohrverbindungstechnik GmbH of D-78224 Singen, Germany, offers for sale a product called PARALIQ PM 35 VLIES which comprises a tape in the form of a synthetic special web, fleece or gauze saturated with a thread sealing paste. It is fibrous in nature like hemp and can be used without either hemp or a separate paste. The tape is 16 mm wide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,273 (Inka) discloses a hand tool for wrapping an unsintered polytetrafluoroethylene tape around the end region of threads on a pipe. The device has a turret for selecting a grooved roller to be used. There are three grooved rollers, the number of grooves per axial inch of the roller differing from one another, each roller being adapted to co-operate with a range of differently pitched threads. The pipe end is partially inserted in the device from the side so as to correctly position the pipe for application of the tape. A grooved roller is selected using the turret and the tape is pressed across the threads and into the grooves on the end of the pipe using the grooved roller. The device appears cumbersome and relatively complex, requiring the use of three rollers. It is not suited for use with pipe sealant materials other than tapes, as each grooved roller is designed only to push a tape into the grooves of the pipe threads. Furthermore the selected grooved roller and the pipe threads must mate correctly to allow the device to operate. The pipe is held against rotation while the entire device circulates about the longitudinal axis of the pipe. In use, in the only working position of the device, the transverse axis of the device is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the device, in other words the longitudinal axis of the device is perpendicular (at 90°) to the longitudinal axis of the pipe.
WO 98/47805 discloses a material for sealing threaded pipe joints comprising a yarn ready-coated with a joint sealing composition. The yarn described is a multifilament yarn which may be applied to a substrate with particular ease by the winding device of the present invention.
WO 98/47805 also discloses a dispenser for dispensing the pipe sealant yarn. The dispenser comprises a hollow body, a cap portion having a dispensing aperture therein and a lid for closing over the aperture when the dispenser is not being used. The cap portion has a blade for cutting and holding the yarn at a desired position.
Notwithstanding the ease of application achieved by the dispenser of WO 98/47805 it would be desirable to provide a winding device which allowed efficient and easy winding of dispensed filamentary pipe sealant material onto a substrate, in particular onto a pipe joint.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a device for guiding and dispensing filamentary materials (usually for sealing threaded pipe joints onto a threaded pipe joint on an end of a pipe) onto a substrate. The device includes
(a) a retainer for retaining a length of filamentary material; and
(b) an elongate dispensing aid projecting from said retainer, the dispensing aid comprising at least one guide located at a position spaced from the retainer, and through which the filamentary material passes.
The dispensing aid guides and dispenses the filamentary material through a path from the retainer onto the substrate (usually a pipe joint).
In this arrangement the dispensing aid and the retainer are arranged so that in use for dispensing of the filamentary material the retainer may be located forwardly of the end of the pipe (and the guide is located alongside the pipe joint).
The term “filamentary material” as used herein includes a tape, thread, fibre or yarn and the term “filamentary pipe sealant material” includes a tape, thread, fibre or yarn coated or impregnated with a pipe sealant or otherwise having pipe sealant characteristics. The winding device is most useful in applying materials for sealing threaded pipe joints to the joint to be sealed. The term ‘pipe’ as used herein to refer to the substrates on which the device of the present invention operates includes threaded portions of pipes and often referred to as pipe joints and also plumbing fittings such as pipe couplings used to join pipes.
The dispensing aid is arranged so that in use a longitudinal axis of at least a portion of the dispensing aid is arranged to move about a longitudinal axis of a pipe, so that the angle between the longitudinal axis of the (portion of the) dispensing aid and the longitudinal axis of the pipe is less than 90°.
The substrate may desirably have a cylindrical surface to which the filamentary material is to be applied. Suitably the filamentary material is for sealing threaded pipe joints. The winding device of the present invention allows for ease of application of filamentary material and in particular of pipe sealing material. Application can be carried out quickly and efficiently, and without the use of rollers. The winding device is designed to be operable by one hand and may suitably be of dimensions and a shape which allow it to be easily held in one hand. While the winding device of the present invention is very useful for dispensing the coated multifilament yarn of WO 98/47805 (the entire contents of which, and of its US equivalent, are hereby incorporated by reference) it will be appreciated that the device may be used with any type of filamentary material such as those described above under the heading “Brief Description of Related Technology”. The particular usefulness of the winding device of the present invention for the coated multifilament yarn of WO 98/47805 is that it allows for ease of application of the filamentary material in a desired position on the pipe joint, i.e., in the well(s) or grooves between adjacent screw threads. While it will be appreciated that dispensing any material onto the threads of a pipe may include some degree of riding of the filamentary material across screw threads, it is desirable that at least a portion of the filamentary material is dispensed into the wells between adjacent threads. Filamentary materials which have a width dimensioned to fit between adjacent screw threads are dispensed well by the device of the invention. Typically such mater
Bauman Steven C.
Loctite (R&D) Limited
Marcelo Emmanuel
LandOfFree
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