Insertion of butterfly valve without disrupting flow
AssigneeSuiken Co., Ltd.
InventorsGunpei YOKOYAMA, Yasunari SATO
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process including: an assembly step of assembling a sealed case onto an existing pipe; a cutting step of forming a first opening of a groove shape elongated in a pipe axis direction of the existing pipe; a second boring step of forming a circular second opening at a position of the existing pipe that opposes the first opening; and an insertion step of inserting, in a valve-open state, a butterfly-shaped valve element that is integral with a valve rod, which runs through the first and second openings, into the existing pipe 1 through the first opening until a tip portion of the valve rod protrudes from the second opening.
Claims16
A piping structure having a butterfly valve installed in an existing pipe, the piping structure comprising:
- an existing pipe that has a first opening of a groove shape elongated in a pipe axis direction;
- an inner lid that shuts the first opening;
- a valve rod extending in a radial direction of the existing pipe and an up-down direction, and running through the first opening;
- and
- a butterfly-shaped valve element that is capable of rotating together with the valve rod and is accommodated in the existing pipe, the valve element including:
- a circular plate-shaped valve body;
- an outer circumferential rubber arranged along an outer circumference of the valve body;
- and
- an upper rubber that is arranged around an upper portion of the valve rod and arranged in a portion of the first opening, and rotates together with the valve rod,
- wherein the upper rubber includes a pair of seal portions, wherein in a valve-open state where the valve element is open, the pair of seal portions is in a non-sealed state where the pair of seal portions is spaced apart from a pair of end faces that defines the first opening and is elongated in the pipe axis direction so as not to seal between the pair of end faces and the pair of seal portions,
- whereas in a valve-closed state where the valve element is closed, the pair of seal portions is in a sealed state so as to seal between an inner surface 31 of the inner lid and the pair of seal portions and seal between the pair of end faces and the pair of seal portions.
A process of installing a butterfly valve into an existing pipe, the process comprising:
- an assembly step of assembling a sealed case onto the existing pipe for airtightly enclosing a portion of the existing pipe;
- a cutting step of using a cutting tool that has been brought into the sealed case to form, in the existing pipe, a first opening of a groove shape elongated in a pipe axis direction of the existing pipe;
- a boring step of using a boring tool that has been brought into the sealed case to bore a circular second opening at a position that opposes the first opening of the existing pipe;
- an insertion step of inserting, in a valve-open state, a butterfly-shaped valve element that is integral with a valve rod, which runs through the first and second openings, into the existing pipe through the first opening until a lower end portion of the valve rod protrudes from the second opening;
- and
- a collar attachment step of attaching a collar to an outer circumference of the lower end portion of the valve rod that has been brought into a bearing portion of the sealed case in the insertion step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.