# US 5,340,123 A · Pressure hardware for a modular inter-wall elastomer seal > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 5,340,123 A - Document ID: US5340123A - Status: Granted - Kind: A - Application number: 08/046,580 - Filed: 1993-04-14 - Granted: 1994-08-23 - Earliest claimed: 1991-09-13 - Assignees: Thunderline Corporation - Inventors: Carl R. Griffiths - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5340123A ## CPC - F16L 5/08: by means of axial screws compressing a ring or sleeve - F16L: PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL ## Abstract Pressure hardware for a seal block assembly used to form a modular, annular seal around a conduit passing through a wall, the assembly including elastomer seal blocks joined in an annulus around the conduit, the seal blocks having pressure bolt apertures parallel to the conduit; the seal blocks are axially compressed and radially expanded to form the seal. The pressure hardware is in sets each including a bolt, a matching nut, and a first molded resin pressure plate having a recess large enough for freely rotatably seating the bolt head, with peripheral access for a wrench; a washer is rotatably positioned in the bottom of the recess, which is deep enough so that the bolt head does not project substantially. The bolt rod extends through a bolt-receiving aperture in the first pressure plate. A second molded resin pressure plate has a socket complementary to the nut, which seats in the socket non-rotatably relation and a bolt-receiving aperture allow the bolt rod to engage the nut; in one form, the socket has crush ribs to hold the nut firmly in place. In another embodiment, the second molded resin pressure plate has a threaded bolt-receiving aperture in which the bolt rod engages. Also disclosed are resin caps that inhibit corrosion of the metal parts of the assembly. ## Claims ### Claim 1 In a seal block assembly for forming a modular, annular conduit-to-wall-opening seal of the kind comprising a plurality of elastomer seal blocks joined to each other in an annulus around a conduit, each seal block having at least one pressure bolt aperture therethrough parallel to the conduit axis, the seal blocks being axially compressed and radially expanded to form a seal between the conduit and an external encompassing wall, the improvement in pressure hardware comprising: a plurality of molded resin pressure plates each having a plural-facet nut socket facing outwardly of the pressure plate; and a corresponding plurality of plural-facet nuts, one for each nut socket, the size and configuration of each nut matching the nut sockets in the pressure plates; each nut socket having a plurality of integral ribs protruding into the socket for engagement with the nut; whereby full insertion of a nut into a nut socket distorts the rib to afford a firm mechanical connection between the pressure plate and the nut, retaining the nut in the socket; the pressure plate further having a bolt-receiving aperture therethrough, smaller than the nut, aligned with the socket to admit the thread end of a pressure bolt rod into engagement with the nut. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) Pressure hardware for an elastomer seal block assembly, according to claim 1, and further comprising a resin bolt thread cap for covering the threaded portion of the bolt rod which extends beyond the nut, the bolt thread cap having a base portion that mounts firmly in the socket of the pressure plate. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) Pressure hardware for an elastomer seal block assembly, according to claim 2, in which the bolt thread cap is of molded elastomer resin. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) Pressure hardware for an elastomer seal block assembly according to claim 1 in which each pressure plate includes a plurality of lateral depressions in the outer surface to reduce the weight of the pressure plate. ### Claim 5 In a seal block assembly for forming a modular, annular conduit-to-wall opening seal of the kind comprising a plurality of elastomer seal blocks joined to each other in an annulus around a conduit, each seal block having at least one pressure bolt aperture therethrough parallel to the conduit axis, the seal blocks being axially compressed and radially expanded to form a seal between the conduit and an external encompassing wall, the assembly including a plurality of sets of pressure hardware for compressing and expanding the seal blocks, each set of pressure hardware comprising: a bolt having a plural-facet head of given size and shape integral with one end of a bolt rod, the bolt rod having a threaded portion extending longitudinally from its other end toward its bolt head end; a first molded resin pressure plate having a recess for receiving the bolt head, the recess being deep enough so that the bolt head does not project substantially out of the recess; the first pressure plate further having a first bolt-receiving aperture therethrough, aligned with the recess, the first bolt-receiving aperture being large enough to admit the bolt rod therethrough but small enough so that the bolt head cannot enter; a second molded resin pressure plate having a stepped socket facing outwardly of the pressure plate; the socket having an inner plural-facet socket portion of predetermined depth and given maximum transverse dimension and an outer socket portion having a transverse dimension greater than the maximum transverse dimension of the inner socket portion; a plural-facet nut of predetermined size and shape complementary to the inner socket portion so that the nut seats therein in non-rotatable relation, the nut having an internal aperture threaded to engage the threaded portion of the bolt rod; the second pressure plate further having a second bolt-receiving aperture therethrough, smaller than the nut, aligned with the socket to admit the other end of the bolt rod into engagement with the nut; and the plural-facet sockets for receiving the nut in the second pressure plate each having an axially extending integral rib protruding into the socket for engagement with a facet of the nut, whereby full insertion of the nut into the socket crushes the rib to afford a firm mechanical connection between the second pressure plate and the nut. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) Pressure hardware for an elastomer seal block assembly according to claim 5 in which each pressure plate includes a plurality of lateral depressions in the outer surface to reduce the weight of the pressure plate. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) Pressure hardware for an elastomer seal block assembly, according to claim 5, and further comprising a resin bolt head cap for covering the bolt head, the bolt head cap having a base portion that mounts firmly in the socket of the first pressure plate. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) Pressure hardware for an elastomer seal block assembly, according to claim 7, in which the bolt head cap is of molded elastomer resin. ### Claim 9 (depends on 5) Pressure hardware for an elastomer seal block assembly, according to claim 5, and further comprising a resin bolt thread cap for covering the threaded portion of the bolt rod which extends beyond the nut, the bolt thread cap having a base portion that mounts firmly in the socket of the second pressure plate. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) Pressure hardware for an elastomer seal block assembly, according to claim 9, in which the bolt thread cap is of molded elastomer resin.