Four-Way Compression Grooved Pipe Coupling Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional housing type pipe couplings require complex in situ assembly and have high seal failure rates due to incomplete or inconsistent assembly efforts, and they fail to effectively eliminate longitudinal, angular, and rotational movement of pipe ends, leading to inefficiencies in installation and potential leaks.
Innovation Solution
A pre-assembled pipe coupling with a one-piece circular elastomeric gasket and four housing segments, including upper and lower arcuate segments and bridge segments with dihedral angular faces, that applies four-way compression to securely join and seal grooved-ended pipes without disassembly, ensuring a leak-tight connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional housing type pipe couplings are used with in situ assembly, then the coupling can be assembled on site, but the assembly process is complex and time-consuming with high seal failure rates
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is pre-assembled with the coupling housing segments at the factory before shipment, ensuring proper positioning and pre-compression. This preliminary action eliminates the complexity and variability of on-site gasket installation, reducing both assembly time and seal failure rates while maintaining reliability.
2Device complexity
If conventional two-segment couplings are used, then the coupling structure is simpler, but longitudinal, angular, and rotational movement of pipe ends is not effectively eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling housing is divided into four segments (two upper and two lower arcuate segments) instead of the conventional two segments. This segmentation allows each segment to independently engage with the pipe groove, providing multi-directional constraint that effectively eliminates longitudinal, angular, and rotational movement of pipe ends while maintaining structural simplicity.
3Productivity
If pre-assembled couplings are used, then installation time is reduced, but the coupling requires complex four-segment structure
Solution Approach 1:
The four coupling housing segments are pre-assembled and secured together at the factory with bolts and nuts, merging multiple components into a single integrated unit. This pre-merging eliminates the need for complex on-site assembly of individual segments, significantly reducing installation time while the segmented structure provides the necessary stability to eliminate pipe end movement.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional couplings are used, then the coupling can be assembled with standard components, but consistent compression and sealing uniformity cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is pre-positioned and pre-compressed within the four-segment housing structure at the factory, ensuring uniform compression distribution before the coupling is shipped. This preliminary compression action guarantees sealing uniformity upon installation, eliminating the variability associated with manual on-site assembly while still using standard manufacturing components.
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
The pre-assembled coupling enables rapid, secure, and consistent assembly of pipe systems, reducing installation time and costs while eliminating the risk of part dropping and improving sealing uniformity, even in hard-to-reach locations.
Implementation Method 1
a one-piece circular elastomeric gasket and four housing segments... that applies four-way compression to securely join and seal grooved-ended pipes
Implementation Method 2
applies four-way compression to securely join and seal grooved-ended pipes without disassembly
Data Source
AI summary
A method for joining and sealing two grooved-ended pipe segments without disassembling a coupling is disclosed. The coupling has a housing with upper and lower arcuate housing segments and left and right bridge segments. Each bridge segment has at least one set of dihedrally angled faces that engage corresponding faces each in the upper and lower housing segments. Drawing the upper and lower segments inwardly together along a first axis, presses each bridge segment inward along a second axis roughly tangential to the first axis. All segments are loosely pre-assembled into a coupling which has a one-piece circular sealing gasket that has an inward circumferential and centrally positioned pipe stop that has an inner diameter smaller than an outer diameter of the pipes to be joined.