Pipe Joint Spacer Structure for Centering and Deformation Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pipe joints face challenges in centering the spacer due to its tendency to displace radially, requiring excessive time and effort, and the spacer deforms under insertion forces, affecting sealing and bending capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A pipe joint design with a spacer featuring a centering contact face that aligns with the socket's inner surface, a separating face that avoids contact with the socket's deep end face, and projections with tilted separating faces to reduce deformation, along with arc-shaped dividing pieces connected by connectors for easy assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the spacer is mounted with a gap between its outer surface and the socket's inner surface, then the spacer can be easily installed, but the spacer's position is likely to be displaced in the radial direction requiring excessive centering time and effort
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer is provided with a centering contact face that preliminarily contacts the inner surface of the socket during installation. This preliminary action guides the spacer into proper radial alignment before final tightening, preventing radial displacement and eliminating the need for time-consuming manual centering operations
Solution Approach 2:
The centering contact face acts as an intermediary element between the spacer and socket. It provides a dedicated contact surface that mediates the positioning relationship, ensuring accurate radial alignment without requiring complex adjustment procedures
2Reliability
If the spacer is restrained to be unmovable to prevent pipeline deformation, then the sealing capability is maintained, but the extending and contracting function and bending function are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer is designed with differentiated functional surfaces: a centering contact face for radial positioning (providing stability for sealing) and a separating face that remains separated from the socket's deep end face (allowing axial movement for bending). This local differentiation enables the spacer to provide sealing stability while maintaining pipeline adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer's surface is segmented into distinct functional zones: the centering contact face for radial constraint and the separating face for axial freedom. This segmentation allows different parts of the spacer to fulfill conflicting requirements - radial stability for sealing and axial mobility for bending
3Stability of the object's composition
If the separating face of the spacer contacts the deep end face of the socket, then the spacer is firmly positioned, but the spacer deforms under insertion forces affecting strength
Solution Approach 1:
The design extracts the positioning function from the separating face by keeping it separated from the deep end face. Only the centering contact face contacts the socket's inner surface for radial positioning, while the separating face maintains a gap to avoid transmitting insertion forces that would cause deformation and strength reduction
Data Source
AI summary
A spacer for limiting the movement of a spigot in an insertion direction is mounted between a distal end portion of the spigot and a deep end face of a socket. The spacer has a cylindrical body sandwiched between the distal end portion of the spigot and the deep end face of the socket, a contact portion in contact with the deep end face of the socket on an end portion of the body, a centering contact face in contact with an inner surface of the socket, and a separating face that is separated from the deep end face of the socket in a removing direction of the spigot. A gap surrounded by the separating face of the spacer, the deep end face of the socket, and the inner surface of the socket is formed. The gap lies outside the contact portion of the spacer in a radial direction.