Resilient plug apparatus and method of use
AssigneeMueller International, LLC
InventorsMikhail German, Leo Fleury
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems, apparatuses, and methods of use of a plug assembly are disclosed herein. The plug assembly includes an expandable plug for use with a pipe having an annular wall defining an outer wall surface and an inner wall surface.
Claims42
A system for use with a pipe having an annular wall defining an outer wall surface, the outer wall surface having an aperture area and the annular wall defining an inner wall surface defining an inner pipe diameter, the system comprising:
- a plug assembly including:
- a shaft;
- a plug;
- an upper plate;
- and
- a lower plate connected to the shaft and moveable with respect to the upper plate;
- and
- a fitting including at least one seal, the fitting defining a channel, the channel alignable with the aperture area and sized to accept the plug assembly.
A system for use with a pipe having an annular wall defining an outer wall surface having an aperture area, the system comprising:
- a fitting including at least one seal, the fitting defining a channel, the channel alignable with the aperture area and having an interaction portion;
- a plug assembly including:
- an upper plate;
- a lower plate;
- and
- a plug;
- at least one of the upper plate and the lower plate including at least one portion having a cross-sectional profile that restricts rotation of the at least one of the upper plate and the lower plate when the profile interacts with the interaction portion, the plug assembly sized to be accepted by the channel.
A system for use with a pipe having an annular wall, the annular wall defining an outer wall surface having an aperture area and the annular wall defining an inner wall surface defining an inner pipe diameter, the system comprising:
- a plug assembly including an expandable plug, the plug having an outside diameter larger than the inner pipe diameter;
- and
- a fitting including at least one seal, the fitting defining a channel, the channel alignable with the aperture area and sized to accept the plug assembly.
A plug assembly for use with a pipe having an annular wall defining an inner wall surface defining an inner pipe diameter, the plug assembly comprising an expandable plug, the plug having an outside diameter larger than the inner pipe diameter.
A method of blocking media flow through a pipe having an annular wall defining an outer wall surface having an aperture area, the method comprising the steps of:
- introducing a fitting to the outer wall surface of the pipe, the fitting defining a channel and having an interaction portion;
- aligning the channel with the aperture area;
- forming two substantially aligned apertures in the aperture area of the pipe;
- inserting a plug assembly into the pipe through one of the apertures, the plug assembly including an expandable plug, an upper plate, and a lower plate, at least one of the upper plate and the lower plate having a portion with a cross-sectional profile that restricts rotation of the lower plate when the profile interacts with the interaction portion, and a portion of the plug assembly extending through the other aperture;
- restricting the rotation of the at least one of the upper plate and the lower plate by interacting the cross-sectional profile with the interaction portion;
- and
- expanding the plug.
A method of blocking media flow through a pipe having an annular wall defining an outer wall surface having an aperture area, the method comprising the steps of:
- introducing a fitting to the outer wall surface of the pipe, the fitting defining a channel;
- aligning the channel with the aperture area;
- forming two substantially aligned apertures in the aperture area of the pipe;
- inserting a plug assembly into the pipe through one of the apertures, the plug assembly including an expandable plug, an upper plate, a lower plate, and a shaft, the shaft moveably connected to the lower plate,
- extending a portion of the plug assembly through the other aperture;
- and
- expanding the plug by moving the shaft to cause the lower plate to move with respect to the upper plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.