Self-tapping tee

A self-tapping tee for a tubular line comprising

• a saddle with a centrally bored housing mounted on a clamp for gripping and encircling the line being tapped, said housing having internal threads, said clamp comprising a pair of opposing clamp segments having upper, lower and intermediate portions, at least one of said segments hinged along its intermediate portion to at one side of the housing and the other of said segments attached to an opposite side of the housing, each of said segments having a locking part at its lower end portion cooperating with a locking part on the other of said segments, said locking parts being interengaging serrations for releasable interconnecting said clamp sections when the clamp is pressed on the line,
• a coupling tap with a stem attached to an internally threaded fitting, said stem being hollow and having at least one opening in the stem, said fitting being externally threaded and cooperatively received in said internal threads of the housing, said coupling tap having a length greater than the length of the housing and a pair of oppositely facing wing grips on the periphery of the fitting,
• a mandrel with a shaft received in the hollow of the stem, said mandrel removably engagable with a portion of the coupling tap in one rotational direction,
• whereby when the mandrel is engaged with a portion of the coupling tap, the mandrel advances with the coupling tap and reinforces the stem as it is screwed into engagement with the line being tapped and at least one of the mandrel or stem pokes a hole in the sidewall of the line, said mandrel thereafter being disengaged from and removed from the coupling tap when the mandrel is rotated in an opposite rotational direction, leaving the coupling tap in the line.