Pipe Branch Opening Device With Non-Rotating Centralizer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pipe renovation methods, particularly for plastic sewer systems, face challenges such as the need for destructive replacement or expensive, complex robot drills for creating holes in joints, which are not suitable for fragile plastic pipes, limiting the popularity of coating techniques.
Innovation Solution
A device with spring-loaded, non-rotating centralizing discs and blades that can be rotated to create holes in plastic pipes without damaging them, allowing safe navigation through bends and obstacles, and using grinding means for material removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a robot drill is used to create holes in joints through the main line, then holes can be drilled to enable waste water flow, but the device is large, expensive, complex and requires special expertise, and may drill holes in wrong places
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an intermediary device that is pushed through the pipe from the branch point to create holes in the main line. This intermediary approach allows precise hole placement at the branch point without requiring complex robot drills to navigate through the main line, thereby improving measurement precision while reducing device complexity and operational complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of drilling holes through the main line from the outside (as with robot drills), the invention inverts the approach by pushing a device through the pipe from the branch point to create holes in the main line from the inside, ensuring accurate hole placement at the correct spot without requiring external robotic systems
2Productivity
If a forceful drilling device is used in cast iron sewers, then holes can be drilled via the smaller pipe, but the device will break the fragile plastic pipe very soon
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the drilling device by using a pushing motion through the pipe rather than forceful drilling from the outside. This parameter change allows the device to create holes in the main line without applying excessive force that would break fragile plastic pipes, thereby maintaining productivity while ensuring pipe integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The device acts as an intermediary that is pushed through the pipe system, allowing hole creation in the main line without requiring forceful external drilling. This intermediary approach protects the integrity of plastic pipes while maintaining the ability to drill holes efficiently
3Reliability
If the liner has been installed in a thick, vertical main line, then the pipe system can be renovated, but all the joints to sewer lines coming from apartments are blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by creating holes in the main line at the branch points before the lining process is complete. This allows waste water flow to be enabled through the lined pipe system while maintaining the durability and leak-proof properties of the lining, thereby resolving the contradiction between pipe system reliability and joint accessibility
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 safe and efficient machining of plastic pipes without damage, allowing for effective renovation of pipe assemblies, including those with complex geometries, by maintaining centralization and preventing pipe damage during hole creation and material removal.
Implementation Method 1
In their simplest form, the centralizing means comprise a set of spring-loaded discs, such as plastic discs, strung on the rotation axle, and tubes between the discs. As a result of the spring loading, while in unoperated state, the tubes that separate the discs keep the discs straight so that they protrude radially from the rotation axle and the device is centralized to the centre of the pipe
Implementation Method 2
The device comprises a rotatable cutter and centralizing means that remain stationary when the cutter is rotated
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a device for opening up a branch point of a pipe assembly. The device comprises a tip part (14) arranged to be rotated, in connection with which there is at least one blade (15a-e), and spring-loaded centralizing means (20, 21, 30, 31) which are separate from the tip part (14) and arranged to remain essentially non-rotating as the tip part (14) is rotated.