# US 10,371,301 B2 · Pipe section joining member, pipe joint and elongated pipe > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,371,301 B2 - Document ID: US10371301B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/059,831 - Filed: 2016-03-03 - Published: 2017-09-07 - Granted: 2019-08-06 - Earliest claimed: 2016-03-03 - Assignees: Construction Research & Technology GmbH et al. - Applicants: Construction Research & Technology GmbH - Inventors: Frank Apicella; Emmanuel Attiogbe; William Gold - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10371301B2 ## CPC - F16L 47/065: {with sealing rings arranged between outer surface of pipe and inner surface of sleeve or socket, the sealing rings being placed previously on the male part} - F16L 13/103: {Adhesive joints} - F16L 21/002: {Sleeves or nipples for pipes of the same diameter; Reduction pieces (F16L27/00, F16L37/00 take precedence; with elastic sealing rings F16L21/022)} - F16L 25/0027: {Joints for pipes made of reinforced concrete} - F16L 47/02: Welded joints; Adhesive joints - B29C 65/00: Joining {or sealing} of preformed parts {, e.g. welding of plastics materials}; Apparatus therefor {(general aspects of processes or apparatus for joining preformed parts B29C66/00; using porous material formed by internal pressure generated therein for joining preformed parts B29C44/1228, B29C44/326)} - F16L: PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) ## Abstract An elongated pipe may include a fiber reinforced polymer composite joining member for joining sections of pipe together. A pipe joint and elongated pipe may include at least two pipe sections having ends that are joined together with the joining member. The pipe joint and elongated pipe are formed by joining abutting ends of adjacent pipe sections with the joining member without the need for the adjacent pipe sections to have other connection means, such as standard bell and spigot end connections. A method may include joining pipe sections with the joining member to make an elongated pipe. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A joining member for pipe sections comprising: a continuous band comprising a fiber reinforced polymer composite having a thickness defined between an inner surface and an outer surface and a width defined between opposite marginal sides, and a flange member extending radially outwardly from the outer surface of said continuous band, wherein said outer surface of said continuous band is tapered, and wherein said thickness of said continuous band decreases from said flange toward said opposite marginal sides of said continuous band, wherein said outer surface of said continuous band is sloped relative to said inner surface of said continuous band, wherein said inner surface of said continuous band is configured to be substantially parallel with said pipe section, wherein said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprises a polymer matrix reinforced with fiber reinforcement, and wherein said fiber reinforcement comprises a fiber fabric. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The joining member of claim 1, further comprising a sealing member engaged with said joining member. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The joining member of claim 2, wherein said sealing member comprises a rubber gasket sealing member. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The joining member of claim 1, wherein said polymer matrix comprises thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers selected from the group consisting of epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester, acrylic, modified acrylic, urethane, phenolic, polyamide, bismaleimide, polyurea, polyvinylidene fluoride, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl chloride, polybutylene, cross-linked polyethylene, polyethylene, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The joining member of claim 4, wherein said polymer matrix comprises an epoxy. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The joining member of claim 1, wherein said fiber fabric comprises an inorganic fiber fabric or an organic fabric. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The joining member of claim 6, wherein said inorganic fiber fabric or organic fiber fabric comprises a uni-directional, or bi-directional fabric. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The joining member of claim 7, wherein said inorganic fiber fabric comprises a bi-directional fabric. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The joining member of claim 7, wherein said bi-directional inorganic fiber fabric comprises a basalt fiber fabric, carbon fiber fabric, metal fiber fabric, fiberglass fabric, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The joining member of claim 7, wherein said bi-directional organic fiber fabric comprises a aramid fabric, ultra-high molecular weight polyolefin fabric, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The joining member of claim 1, wherein said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprises an epoxy matrix reinforced with a fiberglass fabric reinforcement. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The joining member of claim 1, wherein said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprises an epoxy matrix reinforced with a carbon fiber fabric reinforcement. ### Claim 13 A pipe comprising: a plurality of pipe sections, each pipe section comprising a wall thickness defined between an inner surface and an outer surface and a length defined between opposite end faces, wherein said pipe sections do not have integral connection means at opposite longitudinal ends of the pipe sections for connecting one pipe section to another pipe section, wherein said pipe sections are coupled together in an end-to-end manner along their longitudinal axes with a joining member, said joining member comprising a continuous band comprising a fiber reinforced polymer composite having a thickness defined between an inner surface and an outer surface and a width defined between opposite marginal sides and a flange member extending radially outwardly from the outer surface of said continuous band, wherein said outer surface of said continuous band is tapered, and wherein said thickness of said continuous band decreases from said flange toward said opposite marginal sides of said continuous band, wherein said pipe comprises a cementitious pipe, wherein cementitious pipe comprises a cementitious matrix and a reinforcement, wherein said reinforcement comprises a reinforcing fabric at least partially embedded in said cementitious matrix, wherein said reinforcing fabric is selected from an inorganic or organic fiber fabric. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The pipe of claim 13, wherein said cementitious matrix is selected from concrete, mortar, grout, or hydraulic paste. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The pipe of claim 14, wherein the cementitious matrix comprises concrete. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The pipe of claim 13, wherein said reinforcing fabric is an inorganic fiber fabric, wherein said inorganic fiber fabric is selected from basalt fiber fabrics, carbon fiber fabrics, fiberglass fiber fabrics, metal fiber fabrics and metal alloy fiber fabrics. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The pipe of claim 16, wherein said fabric comprises a bi-directional inorganic fiber fabric. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The pipe of claim 13, wherein said reinforcing fabric is an organic fiber fabric, wherein said organic fiber fabric is selected from aramid fabrics, ultra-high molecular weight polyolefin fabrics, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The pipe of claim 18, wherein said fabric comprises a uni-directional, or bi-directional fabric. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The pipe of claim 19, wherein said fibrous fabric comprises a bi-directional fabric. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The pipe of claim 19, wherein said fibers of said organic fiber fabric are polyolefin fibers. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The pipe of claim 21, wherein said polyolefin fibers are polypropylene fibers. ### Claim 23 (depends on 13) The pipe of claim 13, wherein said reinforcement comprises a reinforcing fabric at least partially embedded in said cementitious matrix and a plurality of discrete reinforcing fibers randomly dispersed within the cementitious matrix. ### Claim 24 (depends on 13) The pipe of claim 13, wherein at least two of said plurality of pipe sections does not have integral bell and spigot connections or integral tongue-and-groove connections at opposite longitudinal ends of said pipe sections. ### Claim 25 (depends on 13) The pipe of claim 13, wherein said continuous band comprises a continuous ring and said flange member extends radially outwardly from said outer surface of said continuous ring. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The pipe of claim 25, further comprising a sealing member engaged with said joining member. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The pipe of claim 26, wherein said sealing member comprises a rubber gasket sealing member. ### Claim 28 (depends on 13) The pipe of claim 13, wherein said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising the joining member comprises a polymer matrix reinforced with fiber reinforcement. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The pipe of claim 28, wherein said polymer matrix of said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising the joining member comprises thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers selected from the group consisting of epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester, acrylic, modified acrylic, urethane, phenolic, polyamide, bismaleimide, polyurea, polyvinylidene fluoride, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl chloride, polybutylene, cross-linked polyethylene, polyethylene, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The pipe of claim 29, wherein said polymer matrix of said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising the joining member comprises an epoxy. ### Claim 31 (depends on 28) The pipe of claim 28, wherein said fiber reinforcement of said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising the joining member comprises an organic fiber reinforcement. ### Claim 32 (depends on 28) The pipe of claim 28, wherein said fiber reinforcement of said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising the joining member comprises a fiber fabric. ### Claim 33 (depends on 32) The pipe of claim 32, wherein said fiber fabric fiber comprising the reinforcement of said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising said joining member comprises an inorganic fiber fabric. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The pipe of claim 33, wherein said inorganic fiber fabric comprising the reinforcement of said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising said joining member comprises a uni-directional, or bi-directional fabric. ### Claim 35 (depends on 34) The pipe of claim 34, wherein said inorganic fiber fabric comprising the reinforcement of said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising said joining member comprises a bi-directional fabric. ### Claim 36 (depends on 35) The pipe of claim 35, wherein said bi-directional inorganic fiber fabric comprising the reinforcement of said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising said joining member comprises a basalt fiber fabric, carbon fiber fabric, metal fiber fabric, or fiberglass fabric. ### Claim 37 (depends on 32) The pipe of claim 32, wherein said bi-directional organic fiber fabric comprising the reinforcement of said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising said joining member comprises an aramid fabric, ultra-high molecular weight polyolefin fabric, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 38 (depends on 28) The pipe of claim 28, wherein said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising said joining member comprises an epoxy matrix reinforced with a fiberglass fabric reinforcement. ### Claim 39 (depends on 28) The pipe of claim 28, wherein said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprising said joining member comprises an epoxy matrix reinforced with a carbon fiber fabric reinforcement. ### Claim 40 (depends on 13) The pipe of claim 13, wherein said ring of said joining member is attached to the inner surface of said adjacent pipe sections near the ends of said adjacent pipe sections with the flange member of said joining member extending between the end faces of said adjacent pipe sections. ### Claim 41 (depends on 40) The pipe of claim 40, further comprising a fiber reinforced polymer matrix wrapped around at least a portion of the outer surfaces of adjacent pipe sections near the ends of end-to-end pipe sections that are coupled by said joining member. ### Claim 42 (depends on 40) The pipe of claim 40, further comprising a primer layer between said inner surface of said pipe sections and said outer surface of said continuous band of said joining member. ### Claim 43 (depends on 40) The pipe of claim 40, further comprising an adhesive layer between said primer layer between said outer surface of said continuous band of said joining member. ### Claim 44 A method of joining pipe sections to make an elongated pipe comprising: providing a plurality of pipe sections; positioning said pipe sections in an end-to-end manner along their longitudinal axes; attaching a joining member to the inner surfaces of said adjacent pipe sections near the ends of said adjacent pipe sections being joined with a flange member of said joining member extending between the end faces of said end-to-end pipe sections; attaching a fiber reinforced polymer composite around at least a portion of the outer surfaces near the ends of end-to-end pipe sections, wherein said joining member comprises a continuous band, wherein said continuous band comprises a band outer surface and a band inner surface, wherein said band outer surface is sloped relative to said band inner surface of said continuous band, wherein said band inner surface of said continuous band is substantially parallel with said pipe section, wherein said fiber reinforced polymer composite comprises a polymer matrix reinforced with fiber reinforcement, and wherein said fiber reinforcement comprises a fiber fabric; and permitting said fiber reinforced polymer composite to cure.