Pipe Joint Watertight Testing with Compressed Seal Members
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional watertight testing devices face challenges in maintaining sealing performance due to thin water-stop bags that can easily be holed, or thicker bags that are less deformable and thus reduce sealing efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The watertight testing device incorporates a design where the seal members are compressed into reduced insertion spaces, with moving devices that press and release the seal members to ensure proper sealing between the core and the pipes, enhancing sealing performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the water-stop bags are made thin to be easily deformed and expanded, then the ease of operation and sealing capability improve, but the reliability deteriorates as they can easily be holed during handling
Solution Approach 1:
The water-stop bags are designed to dynamically change their state between shrunk (for easy installation) and expanded (for sealing). The bags are initially shrunk to facilitate insertion into the socket, then expanded using compressed air to provide the sealing function, and finally shrunk again for removal. This dynamic transformation allows thin bags to be both easy to handle and reliable during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical parameters of the water-stop bags (volume, shape, density) are changed through compression and expansion. By injecting compressed air, the bags expand to provide sealing; by exhausting the air, they shrink for removal. This parameter change allows the same thin bag to provide both ease of operation and reliability at different stages.
2Reliability
If the water-stop bags are made thick to resist holes, then the reliability improves, but the ease of operation deteriorates as they become less deformable and harder to expand
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses dynamic expansion and shrinkage to overcome the static limitation of thick bags. Even if thick bags are used, they can be shrunk for installation and then expanded for sealing, providing both reliability and ease of operation through this dynamic process.
Solution Approach 2:
Compressed air is used to expand the water-stop bags, providing the force needed to deform even thick bags into the sealing position. The pneumatic system overcomes the resistance of thick material, allowing reliable sealing without sacrificing ease of operation.
3Reliability
If the seal members are compressed into reduced insertion spaces, then the sealing performance improves, but the device complexity increases due to the need for pressing mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The water-stop bags perform self-service by using the injected compressed air to expand themselves into the sealing position without requiring external pressing mechanisms. The air pressure automatically pushes the bags against the socket inner surface, achieving sealing through self-compression.
Solution Approach 2:
Pneumatic pressure is used to compress the seal members into the reduced insertion spaces. The compressed air serves dual purposes: expanding the water-stop bags for sealing and pushing the elastic seal member into its sealing position, simplifying the overall device structure.
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
This design improves the sealing performance between the core and the pipes by ensuring the seal members are adequately compressed and maintained in place during the watertight test, thereby reducing leakage and enhancing test reliability.
Implementation Method 1
an elastic seal member (23, 24) that is compressed between a pressing member (25, 26) and a core (22) in a radial direction B
Implementation Method 2
a movable rod (55) that is movable in a pipe axial direction A
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
This watertight testing device 21 has: a cylindrical core 22 internally fitted to a pipe joint part 1; a first seal member 23 that seals the space between the outer circumference of the core 22 and the inner circumference of one pipe 2; a second seal member 24 that seals a space between the outer circumference of the core 22 and the inner circumference of the other pipe 4; a first pressing member 25 that presses and compresses the first seal member 23 into a first seal member insertion space 46; a second pressing member 26 that presses and compresses the second seal member 24 into a second seal member insertion space 47; a moving device 27 that moves the first and second pressing members 25, 26 in the pipe axial direction A; and a testing fluid supply device 28 that supplies a testing fluid into a testing space 71.