Patent Application
20140352124
The present invention relates to a tool adapted to decouple temporary pipes joined or coupled together with collars and a method of decoupling temporary pipes connected together with collars.
Temporary piping systems are used when for example rehabilitation work is performed on permanent underground potable water main systems or sewage systems and services must be maintained to the residences and/or industries affected while work is being done on the permanent underground water system. Water supply is re-routed into a network of pipes usually laid directly on the ground and joined together end to end with hermetic collars; the network of pipes being temporarily connected to the affected residences and/or industries in order to maintain water supply or sewage services while the permanent underground water system is shut down.
The temporary pipes network typically consists of a series of PVC pipes of various lengths connected end to end via hermetic PVC collars. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is predominantly used for temporary pipes network for its lightness, resistance to impact, and resistance to sunlight and harsh environment in general. However, other polymer-based materials having similar physical properties may be used to produce similar pipes and collars, such as for example chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC), fiber reinforced plastic (FRP), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), cross-linked high-density polyethylene (XHDPE), polybutylene (PB), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), etc.
When work is completed on the permanent underground water system, the affected residences and/or industries are re-connected to the permanent underground water system and the temporary pipes network is dismantled and removed.
The dismantling of the temporary pipes network has proven to be difficult and time consuming because the hermetic collars connecting the various lengths of pipes end to end are press-fitted onto the outer diameter of the connected pipes. One of the connected pipes must be mechanically restrained while the other is pulled in order to slide it out of the hermetic collar. The mechanical force required to pull an often long and hard to handle pipe and slide it out of the collar is such that tractors and chains are required to perform this task. The use of heavy equipment for simply disconnecting pipes coupled with hermetic collar in order to dismantle the temporary pipes network makes the whole dismantling process as expensive as its assembly. To help in this process, workers will often place a piece of wood against the side of the collar and use a hammer to try to break the seal between the collar and pipes and dislodge the collar with limited success.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and for a tool that make the dismantling of temporary pipes network consisting of polymer-based pipes of various lengths connected end to end via hermetic collars more efficient and less expensive.
It is an object of the present invention to ameliorate at least some of the inconveniences present in the prior art.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a tool for removing a collar from a temporary pipe having an outer diameter, the tool comprising a striking head, a handle and a shaft connecting the striking head to the handle, the striking head including a semi-circular are shaped metal plate having an inner radius “R” substantially equal to half of the outer diameter of the pipe, and a striking portion defined by an edge of the semi-circular arc shaped metal plate.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of removing a collar from a temporary pipe having an outer diameter using a tool as defined in claim 1, the method comprising the steps of: setting the striking head of the tool on the pipe next to the collar; and repeatedly striking the collar with the edge of the striking head by sliding the striking head back and forth on the outer surface of the pipe until the collar is dislodged from pipe.
Embodiments of the present invention each have at least one of the Above-mentioned objects and/or aspects, but do not necessarily have all of them. It should be understood that some aspects of the present invention that have resulted from attempting to attain the above-mentioned objects may not satisfy these objects and/or may satisfy other objects not specifically recited herein.
Additional and/or alternative features, aspects, and advantages of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
For a better understanding of the present invention, as well as other aspects and further features thereof, reference is made to the following description which is to be used in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where:
a a perspective view of a striking tool in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
b is a front elevational view of the striking tool shown in
c is a side elevational view of the striking tool shown in
With reference to
With reference to
When work is completed on the permanent underground water system, the residences 20 are re-connected thereto and the temporary pipe network 14 must be dismantled and removed from the premises. In order to dismantle the temporary pipe network 14, the collars 18 must be removed and the pipes 16 separated. To accelerate the removal of the collars 18, the inventors have devised a striking tool 25 specifically adapted for the purpose.
With reference to
The striking head 24 of the striking tool 25 is designed for removing collars 18 from a specific pipe having a specific outer diameter. The radius “R” of the semi-circular metal plate 27 is set and corresponds to is specific pipe outer radius. To remove collars 18 from a pipe having a different outer diameter, a different striking head 26 must be used having a radius “R” which corresponds to the outer radius of the pipe. For example, to remove a collar 18 from a pipe having an outer diameter of 6 inches, a striking head 26 having a radius “R” of 3 inches must be used whereas to remove a collar 18 from a pipe having an outer diameter of 8 inches a striking head 26 having a radius “R” of 4 inches must be used. Thus, each outer diameter of pipe requires a specific striking head 26 having a corresponding radius “R”.
With reference to
Once the first pipe 16a is freed from the collar 18, it is removed. The operator then positions the striking tool 25 on the second pipe 16b next to the collar 18 still attached thereto and strikes the collar 18 with the striking tool 25 as described above until the collar 18 is dislodged from the second pipe 16b.
The striking tool 25 enables quick and easy dismantling of a temporary pipes network 14 by providing a means to remove the collars 18 from the pipes 16 without requiring heavy machinery.
Modifications and improvements to the above-described embodiments of the present invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art. The foregoing description is intended to be exemplary rather than limiting. The scope of the present invention is therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.
