Push Lock Pipe Connection With Rigid Fingers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional methods for connecting pipes, such as gluing, welding, threading, and external connections, are either cumbersome, time-consuming, or limited in their ability to withstand high tensile forces and easy disconnection, especially when used with different materials.
Innovation Solution
A connection system utilizing rigid locking fingers extending from the interior surface of a female pipe end and corresponding locking grooves on the male pipe end, allowing for quick and secure joining without gluing, threading, or welding, and enabling high tensile yield strength regardless of pipe material.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If gluing or cementing is used to connect pipes, then the connection can withstand tensile force, but the process is cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system divides the locking function into multiple rigid fingers (typically 3-5 fingers) distributed around the pipe circumference. Each finger independently engages with corresponding grooves on the mating pipe, distributing the tensile load across multiple contact points. This segmentation allows the connection to achieve high tensile strength without requiring time-consuming adhesive application and curing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The rigid fingers are pre-formed and positioned on the pipe interior surface during manufacturing, ready to engage with the mating pipe's grooves. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for on-site adhesive application and curing, allowing workers to simply insert and rotate the pipes to achieve immediate mechanical interlocking and tensile strength.
2Ease of operation
If threaded connections are used, then the pipes can be disconnected and reused, but the connection cannot withstand high tensile forces
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system employs a dynamic insertion and rotation process where the rigid fingers flex slightly during insertion to engage with the grooves, then lock firmly upon rotation. This dynamic engagement allows the connection to achieve high tensile strength while maintaining disconnection capability through a simple reverse rotation motion, unlike rigid threaded connections that require significant unscrewing effort.
3Strength
If welding is used to join pipes, then the connection can withstand significant tensile forces, but it is time-consuming and difficult to remove
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the thermal welding process with a purely mechanical interlocking system using rigid fingers and grooves. This mechanical substitution achieves comparable or superior tensile strength without the time-consuming heating and cooling cycles of welding, and without the permanent bonding that makes welded joints difficult or impossible to remove.
4Strength
If external connections such as collars and flanges are used, then the connection can withstand significant tensile forces and can be removed, but forming the connection is time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid fingers are nested within the pipe interior, integrated into the pipe wall structure during manufacturing. This nested configuration eliminates the need for separate external collars, flanges, or fasteners that must be individually installed. The connection is formed simply by inserting and rotating the pipes, with the integrated fingers automatically engaging the grooves to provide high tensile strength.
Data Source
AI summary
A pipe for connecting to a similar adjacent pipe. The pipe has a female end with a plurality of rigid fingers extending into the space within the female end. The plurality of rigid fingers extends from at least one interior circumferential groove on the interior surface of the female end. On the male end of the pipe there is at least one exterior circumferential groove that is sized and positioned to receive the plurality of rigid fingers from a corresponding interior circumferential groove on the female end of an adjacent pipe. The number of interior circumferential grooves on the female end with the plurality of rigid fingers extending from them typically corresponds to the number of exterior circumferential grooves on the male end. When the male end of a similar adjacent pipe is inserted into the female end of the pipe, the plurality of rigid fingers is received within the corresponding exterior circumferential groove on the male end, thereby preventing the male end of the similar adjacent pipe from being withdrawn from the female end of the pipe.