Gas line seal clamp and method of sealing a gas line
AssigneesJS Products, Inc., Gti Energy
InventorsChungeng Chen, Travis Cottle, Jeff Mainzer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A seal clamp, such as for gas lines, includes a handle assembly having a handle, a transfer or drive assembly cooperable with the handle, and a clamping assembly including first and second claws or clamps and a seal member. The first and second claws or clamps are cooperable with the transfer assembly. The seal member is structured to seal a puncture in a gas line. Responsive to movement of the handle, the first and second claws or clamps move from an OPEN position to a CLOSED position, such as to engage a pipe and create a clamping force which forces the seal member into engagement with the pipe, such as a puncture, to seal the pipe.
Claims18
A seal clamp comprising:
- a handle assembly comprising a handle;
- a transfer assembly cooperable with the handle;
- and
- a clamping assembly comprising a first clamp, a second clamp, and a seal member coupled to the first and second clamps, the first and second clamps being cooperable with the transfer assembly, the seal member being structured to seal a puncture in a gas line,
- wherein, responsive to movement of the handle, the first and second clamps move from an OPEN position to a CLOSED position in order to compress the seal member into the puncture,
- wherein the handle assembly further comprises a bar rotatably coupled to the handle, wherein, responsive to rotation of the handle with respect to the bar, the first and second clamps move between the OPEN and CLOSED positions, wherein the transfer assembly comprises a drive shaft pivotably coupled to the bar such that the bar can pivot with respect to the drive shaft toward and away from the clamping assembly, and wherein, responsive to rotation of the handle, the bar rotates the drive shaft, thereby causing the first and second clamps to move between the OPEN and CLOSED positions.
A seal clamp comprising:
- a handle assembly comprising a handle;
- a transfer assembly cooperable with the handle;
- and
- a clamping assembly comprising a first clamp, a second clamp, and a seal member coupled to the first and second clamps, the first and second clamps being cooperable with the transfer assembly, the seal member being structured to seal a puncture in a gas line,
- wherein, responsive to movement of the handle, the first and second clamps move from an OPEN position to a CLOSED position in order to compress the seal member into the puncture, wherein the transfer assembly comprises a lead screw and a threaded adapter engaging the lead screw, wherein the clamping assembly further comprises a linkage connector coupled to the first and second clamps, and wherein, responsive to movement of the handle, the lead screw rotates about a longitudinal axis within the threaded adapter and drives the linkage connector downwardly along the longitudinal axis, thereby moving the first and second clamps between the OPEN and CLOSED positions.
A method of sealing a puncture in a gas line, comprising the steps of:
- providing a seal clamp comprising a handle assembly comprising a handle, a transfer assembly cooperable with the handle, and a clamping assembly comprising a first clamp, a second clamp, and a seal member coupled to the first and second clamps, the first and second clamps being cooperable with the transfer assembly;
- and
- moving the handle in order to move the first and second clamps from an OPEN position to a CLOSED position, thereby compressing the seal member into the puncture and sealing the gas line, the method further comprising providing the transfer assembly with a first gear and a second gear engaging the first gear, and responsive to rotation of the handle, rotating the first gear in order to rotate the second gear, thereby moving the first and second clamps between the OPEN position and the CLOSED position in order to compress the seal member into the puncture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.