Offset Liner Bladder Securement for Manhole Transition Conformance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods struggle to conform rehabilitation liners and inflation bladders to the complex curvatures and offsets within underground structures like manholes, leading to issues such as material separation, bladder bursting, and excessive installation time and cost due to difficulties in fitting the liner and bladder to transitional areas.
Innovation Solution
A liner and inflation bladder offset securement system using a resin-impregnated fiberglass liner with loop units, bladder anchors, and pull straps, along with structure anchors, to facilitate precise placement and adherence to internal surfaces, ensuring complete conformation to structural transitions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If heated air is used to inflate the liner, then the liner can be installed without replacing the manhole, but the curing time becomes relatively long due to heat loss to surrounding walls and soil
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-positioning the liner and inflation bladder in the correct configuration before inflation. The liner is carefully located and placed to conform to the manhole structure's curvatures and transitions in advance, so that when inflation occurs, the liner is already in optimal position, eliminating the need for adjustments during or after inflation and reducing overall installation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies dynamics by using an inflatable bladder that can dynamically adjust its volume and pressure to conform the liner to the manhole structure. The bladder is inflated progressively, allowing the liner to dynamically adapt to the structure's curvatures and transitions, ensuring proper fit while reducing the time needed for manual positioning and adjustments.
2Reliability
If the liner and inflation bladder are placed to conform to curvatures and transitions in the structure, then complete support is achieved, but the difficulty of locating and placing them increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the nested doll principle by placing the inflation bladder inside the liner. This nested configuration allows the bladder to be positioned first, followed by the liner being placed over it. The bladder acts as an internal support structure that guides the liner into the correct position, simplifying the overall placement process while ensuring complete conformability to the manhole structure's curvatures and transitions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the inflation bladder as an intermediary between the installer and the liner. The bladder serves as a mediator that translates installation forces into uniform pressure distribution, allowing the liner to conform to complex curvatures and transitions without requiring precise manual positioning. The bladder mediates the interaction between the installer's actions and the liner's final configuration, reducing placement difficulty.
3Area of stationary object
If the inflation bladder is stretched to reach transition areas, then coverage is improved, but the risk of bursting from overstretching increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by using progressive inflation of the bladder. Instead of inflating to full pressure immediately, the bladder is inflated in stages, allowing the liner to gradually conform to the structure's transitions. This dynamic approach distributes the stretching forces over time and space, preventing localized overstretching and reducing the risk of bladder bursting while still achieving complete coverage of transition areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by providing enhanced support and distribution of forces at transition areas. The liner and bladder system is designed with specific considerations for transition zones, where the bladder pressure is distributed more evenly and the liner has additional flexibility. This localized quality control ensures that transition areas receive adequate coverage without subjecting the bladder to excessive concentrated stresses that could cause bursting.
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 system effectively secures the liner and bladder to the host structure, preventing material separation and bladder failure, while reducing installation time and costs by ensuring proper fit and curing without exposing the host structure.
Implementation Method 1
an inflatable bladder disposed within the liner
Implementation Method 2
after which the resin cures and secures the liner to the walls of the manhole
Implementation Method 3
the use of heated air to inflate the liner so that the surrounding walls of the manhole are engaged
Data Source
AI summary
A liner assembly offset securement system for reinforcing walls of an underground sewer structure. The underground sewer structure includes a neck portion, an offset portion extending at an angle and offset from the neck portion, and a chamber portion extending downwardly from the offset portion. The offset securement system comprises a liner, an inflatable bladder disposed within the liner, a plurality of offset structure anchors, a plurality of loop units attached to the liner, and a plurality of pull straps. Each of the offset structure anchors is configured to be fixed to the underground sewer structure between offset and chamber portions thereof. Each of the pull straps has a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of each of the pull straps connected to one of the bladder anchors through one of the loop units of the liner and one of the offset structure anchors.