Rieber sealing system with plastic retainer ring
AssigneeS & B Technical Products, Inc.
InventorsMark A. Weih, Guido Quesada
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pipe belling process where a heated thermoplastic pipe end is forced over a sealing gasket on a forming mandrel, with the pipe being subsequently cooled to retain the gasket in an internal groove simultaneously formed in the pipe end. The sealing gasket is a two-component gasket with an elastic component and a plastic component. The elastic component is stretched over a portion of the plastic component during assembly with the plastic component acting as a belling ramp for the gasket during the subsequent pipe belling operation.
Claims16
A method of installing a gasket in a socket end of a female thermoplastic pipe, the socket end being sized to matingly engage a spigot end of a mating male thermoplastic pipe to form a pipeline, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a forming mandrel having an inner end and an outer end and having an outer working surface;
- installing a sealing gasket at a first circumferential location on the outer working surface;
- heating the socket end of the female thermoplastic pipe;
- forcing the heated socket end of the female thermoplastic pipe over the working surface of the mandrel and over the sealing gasket, whereby the heated socket end of the thermoplastic pipe flows over the sealing gasket to form a retention groove for retaining the sealing gasket;
- allowing the heated socket end of the thermoplastic pipe to cool;
- thereafter, retracting the cooled socket end of the thermoplastic pipe and the retained sealing gasket from the working surface of the mandrel;
- wherein the sealing gasket is a two component gasket having an elastic circumferential component and a plastic circumferential component, the two components being molded separately and then assembled together by stretching the elastic circumferential component over at least a portion of the plastic circumferential component, prior to installing the sealing gasket on the forming mandrel and installing the assembled two component gasket onto the forming mandrel;
- and
- wherein the plastic circumferential component of the sealing gasket acts as a belling ramp for the female thermoplastic pipe as the female thermoplastic pipe is forced over the working surface of the mandrel and over the sealing gasket in a subsequent belling operation.
A method of installing a gasket in a socket end of a female thermoplastic pipe, the socket end being sized to matingly engage a spigot end of a mating male thermoplastic pipe to form a pipeline, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a forming mandrel having an inner end and an outer end and having an outer working surface;
- installing a sealing gasket at a first circumferential location on the outer working surface;
- heating the socket end of the female thermoplastic pipe;
- forcing the heated socket end of the female thermoplastic pipe over the working surface of the mandrel and over the sealing gasket, whereby the heated socket end of the thermoplastic pipe flows over the sealing gasket to form a retention groove for retaining the sealing gasket;
- allowing the heated socket end of the thermoplastic pipe to cool;
- retracting the cooled socket end of the thermoplastic pipe and the retained sealing gasket from the working surface of the mandrel;
- wherein the sealing gasket is a two component gasket having an elastic circumferential component formed of an elastomeric material having a hardness in the range from about 40-60 Shore A and a plastic circumferential component formed of a material selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, PET, PBT, polyamide synthetic plastics and their glass filled or recycled forms, the two components of the gasket being molded separately and then assembled together by stretching the elastic circumferential component over at least a portion of the plastic circumferential component, prior to installing the sealing gasket on the forming mandrel and installing the assembled two component gasket onto the forming mandrel;
- and
- wherein the plastic circumferential component of the sealing gasket acts as a belling ramp for the female thermoplastic pipe as the female thermoplastic pipe is forced over the working surface of the mandrel and over the sealing gasket in a subsequent belling operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.