Reinforced manhole cover gasket
AssigneeSewer Sentry LLC
InventorsWilliam Eugene Putnam, Randall Avery Putnam, David Alan Putnam, Mark Alfred Weih, Guido Quesada
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A reinforced gasket for sealing a manhole, the gasket comprising a reinforcement ring having an upper surface and a generally planar lower surface; and a sealing assembly comprising a first ring and a second ring with an intermediate member extending between the first ring and the second ring, the intermediate member defining a contact surface; wherein the reinforcement ring is disposed between the first ring and the second ring of the sealing assembly such that the upper surface of the reinforcement ring is in contact with the contact surface of the seal ring.
Claims20
A reinforced gasket for sealing a manhole comprising:
- an annular seal having an inner ring and an outer ring, and an intermediate segment extending between the inner and outer rings, the inner and outer rings formed having a height greater than a height of the intermediate segment;
- and
- a reinforcement ring having a stiffness value that is greater than a stiffness value of the annular seal and a height that is less than the height of the inner and outer rings, the reinforcement ring secured to the annular seal to increase a stiffness of the reinforced gasket.
A method for sealing a manhole, the method comprising:
- providing a manhole sleeve forming an opening, the manhole sleeve including a shoulder radially extending inwardly;
- providing a manhole cover for insertion within the manhole sleeve to enclose the opening;
- providing a reinforced gasket with a gasket height, the reinforced gasket formed having a reinforcing member to increase a stiffness of the reinforced gasket and having a height that is less than the gasket height;
- positioning the reinforced gasket on the shoulder;
- and
- placing the manhole cover into the manhole sleeve, the manhole cover positioned to exert a compression force to deform the reinforced gasket to seal the manhole.
A system for sealing a manhole comprising:
- a manhole sleeve having an inner wall defining an opening;
- a shoulder extending into the opening from the inner wall of the manhole sleeve;
- a gasket having a height and comprising a reinforcement ring to increase a stiffness of the gasket and having a height that is less than the gasket height;
- and
- a manhole cover disposed within the manhole sleeve and positioned to sandwich the gasket between the manhole cover and the shoulder such that the manhole cover presses the gasket against the shoulder thereby creating a first seal between the gasket and the shoulder and a second seal between the gasket and the manhole cover and a third seal between the gasket and the manhole sleeve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.