Adjustable Pipe Molding for Sagging-Pipe Insulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in molding systems for applying insulation to long pipes is the sagging of the middle portion due to its own weight, leading to non-uniform insulation thickness and potential material failure at weak points where supports are used.
Innovation Solution
A molding system with an elongate mold that adjusts its shape to match the sagging pipe, using a double-walled mold member with radial supports to maintain uniform insulation thickness without internal bulkheads, and a mold adjustment mechanism to dynamically adjust the mold's shape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If supports are placed along the length of the mold to prop the middle portion of the pipe up, then the pipe sagging problem is solved, but the insulation material becomes discontinuous and creates weak points for material failure
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the intermediate supports from the mold system entirely. Instead of using supports to hold the pipe at the middle portion, the pipe is allowed to sag naturally under its own weight, and the mold is adjusted to match this sagged position, eliminating the discontinuity in insulation material that supports would create.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold is made adjustable to dynamically adapt to the pipe's sagged position. The mold can be repositioned or reshaped to correspond to the natural sag of the pipe, allowing continuous insulation application without requiring fixed intermediate supports that would create discontinuities.
2Device complexity
If the pipe is simply supported at its ends in the mold, then the mold structure is simple, but the middle portion of the pipe sags under its own weight causing non-uniform insulation thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The mold is designed with adjustable capabilities that allow it to dynamically adapt to the pipe's sagged position. This dynamic adjustment ensures that the mold cavity maintains the correct shape to produce uniform insulation thickness, even when the pipe sags under its own weight with simple end supports.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of trying to prevent the pipe from sagging (which would require complex support structures), the invention accepts the sag as a natural condition and adjusts the mold to match it. This converts the harmful effect of sagging into a manageable condition that maintains insulation uniformity without increasing structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A molding system for applying insulation to a pipe employs an elongate mold in which to receive the pipe. A mold adjustment mechanism can adjust a shape of the mold to correspond to a shape of the pipe as the pipe sags in the mold cavity. In a method of insulating the pipe, the shape of the mold is adjusted to correspond to the shape of the sagging pipe and curable material is imparted into the mold while maintaining the adjusted shape of the mold. The elongate mold can include at least one double-walled mold member with an inner form wall, an outer jacket, and a plurality of radial supports that support the outer jacket on the inner form wall in radially spaced apart relation therewith.