US 12,358,256 B2Granted

Pipe liner

AssigneeW.E.Rawson Limited

InventorsDavid Blades, Alexander Johnson

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Abstract

A pipe liner for lining the inside of a pipe, for example a water or sewerage pipe requiring repair. The pipe liner is mainly formed of a fabric sleeve, or a plurality of fabric sleeves, and comprises a ribbon or strip of fibrous material along a longitudinal seam which reinforces the longitudinal seam. The pipe liners may be suitable for use in repairing damaged or degraded pipes and may provide an improvement in the tensile and/or flexural strength of the longitudinal seam compared to a similar pipe liner with a simple butt-stitched longitudinal seam, whilst not suffering from the disadvantages of reinforced welded seam which can be difficult to turn inside out during installation. The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing such a pipe liner, a pipe lining formed from such a pipe liner and a pipe comprising such a pipe lining.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A pipe liner comprising a fabric sleeve and a ribbon of fibrous material, wherein the fabric sleeve comprises a longitudinal seam and the ribbon of fibrous material is joined to the fabric sleeve along and to reinforce the longitudinal seam;

wherein the fabric sleeve is formed of glass reinforced felt comprising at least one layer of glass fibre fabric;
wherein the ribbon of fibrous material consists of a glass fibre fabric;
wherein the ribbon of fibrous material is stitched to an inside surface of the fabric sleeve, along the longitudinal seam, wherein the stitching passes through the ribbon of fibrous material, the fabric sleeve, and the at least one layer of glass fibre fabric of the fabric sleeve;
wherein the ribbon of fibrous material is not welded to the fabric sleeve;
wherein the fabric sleeve further comprises a waterproof coating on an outside surface and a sealing tape, the sealing tape positioned on the outside surface of the fabric sleeve along the longitudinal seam;
and
wherein the sealing tape is welded to the outside surface of the fabric sleeve using a sealing tape weld, and the sealing tape weld is the only weld used in the pipe liner.

4 more elements

A method of forming a pipe liner, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing a sheet of fabric formed of glass reinforced felt comprising at least one layer of glass fibre fabric, wherein the sheet of fabric comprises a waterproof coating;
b) bringing two opposing side edges of the sheet of fabric together in a face to face manner, wherein the faces contacting each other are provided by the same surface of the fabric sheet;
c) arranging a ribbon of fibrous material which consists of a glass fibre fabric in contact with each of the two opposing side edges of the sheet of fabric and in-between the faces of the sheet of fabric which have been brought together in step b), wherein the ribbon of fibrous material is arranged on the opposite side of the fabric sheet to the waterproof coating;
d) stitching together the two opposing side edges of the sheet of fabric to form a sleeve of the fabric comprising a stitched longitudinal seam;
e) joining the ribbon of fibrous material to each of the two opposing side edges of the sheet of fabric without welding, across the longitudinal seam, by stitching the ribbon of fibrous material to an inside surface of the sleeve, along the longitudinal seam, wherein the stitching passes through the ribbon of fibrous material, the sleeve, and the at least one layer of glass fibre fabric;
f) unfolding the longitudinal seam to move the two opposing side edges of the sheet of fabric to a butt-stitched arrangement wherein the fabric sleeve is approximately flat around the stitched longitudinal seam or wherein the fabric sleeve has adopted an approximately tubular shape;
and
g) applying, by welding, a sealing tape to the two opposing side edges of fabric on an outside surface of the fabric comprising the waterproof coating.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/426,686Filed 30 Jan 2020
Priority: GB 190138731 Jan 2019
Published: US 2022/0105700 A17 Apr 2022
Granted: 15 Jul 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification18 codes

B32B 1/08
Layered products having a non-planar shape: tubular products
B29C 53/40
By bending sheets or strips at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the article being formed and joining the edges: for articles of definite…
B29C 63/36
Using tubular layers or sheathings: being turned inside out
B32B 3/06
Characterised by features of form at particular places, e.g. in edge regions: for securing layers together; for attaching the product to another…