Flexible Feeder Liner Inversion via Water Column Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for installing flexible tubular liners in underground pipes are often cumbersome and expensive due to the use of large, heavy apparatuses, particularly for large-diameter pipes, which complicates the efficient and cost-effective repair of leaks caused by ground movement or erosion.
Innovation Solution
A compact, inexpensive apparatus with a flexible feeder system that includes a throat mechanism to support and invert a flattened, flexible tubular liner using fluid pressure, allowing for efficient installation and inversion within a pipe, supported by a simple structure and utilizing a flexible material that can be easily manufactured and discarded.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If large, heavy pressure containment vessels are used to provide fluid pressure for liner installation, then the necessary fluid pressure can be maintained, but the apparatus becomes unwieldy and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a column of water (hydraulic principle) to generate and maintain the necessary fluid pressure for inverting the liner. The water column's weight creates continuous pressure without requiring heavy mechanical pressure vessels, thus maintaining pressure while reducing apparatus weight and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical pressure containment vessels with a simpler water column system. Instead of using heavy mechanical pumps and pressure vessels, the system uses gravity and the weight of water to generate the required pressure, substituting a complex mechanical system with a simpler gravitational system.
2Stress or pressure
If traditional sealing devices are used in pressure containment vessels, then fluid pressure can be maintained, but the apparatus becomes complex and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible liner made of impermeable material as both the product being installed and as part of the pressure containment system. The liner itself acts as a flexible barrier that can contain pressure, eliminating the need for complex rigid sealing devices and pressure vessels.
Solution Approach 2:
The liner material serves dual purposes: it is both the product being installed to repair the pipe and simultaneously functions as the pressure containment barrier. This self-service approach eliminates the need for separate, complex sealing systems.
3Stress or pressure
If rigid, heavy pressure containment vessels are used for liner installation, then fluid pressure can be maintained, but the apparatus is unwieldy and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a water column to provide fluid pressure, leveraging hydraulic principles to generate and maintain pressure without requiring heavy, rigid containment vessels. This approach maintains the necessary pressure while significantly improving apparatus portability and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and properties of the pressure containment system from rigid mechanical vessels to a flexible water column system. By changing from solid mechanical containment to fluid-based gravitational containment, the system becomes more portable and easier to operate while maintaining effective pressure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables quick, efficient, and cost-effective installation of flexible tubular liners in pipes of various diameters, reducing the need for large, expensive equipment and facilitating the repair of leaks in underground pipes.
Implementation Method 1
The pressure-containing section acts to hold air or another fluid under pressure to act on the flexible tubular liner
Implementation Method 2
fluid under pressure within the pressure-containing section acts on such a flap and urges it toward the opposite side of the throat and against an object such as a flattened flexible tubular liner passing through the throat, to seal the throat
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and a method for installing a tubular liner in a pipe, as in repair of underground sewer piping. A feeder is of flexible material, which may be similar to that of which the tubular liner is made, and is connected to an end of the tubular liner. The feeder includes a throat portion through which a quantity of inside-out tubular liner is drawn into the feeder by fluid pressure within the feeder and beyond the throat, and the tubular liner is thence urged by fluid pressure into the pipe where it is to be installed.