AU718647B2

AU718647B2 - Industrial pipe support

Info

Publication number: AU718647B2
Application number: AU28113/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Daniel Roy GILLESPIE
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-10-24
Filing date: 1999-05-13
Publication date: 2000-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 2017-12-23
Also published as: AU2811399A

Description

1 1

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT a.

a a a.

a. a a a a.

a.

Bb a a a Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: DANIEL ROY GILLESPIE DANIEL ROY GILLESPIE CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

INDUSTRIAL PIPE SUPPORT The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me: 2 The present invention relates to a pipe support for supporting a pipe during pipeline laying operations.

Pipelines such as oil and gas pipelines are typically laid by first digging a trench, welding lengths of pipe together, placing the welded pipe in the trench and backfilling the trench. The lengths of pipe must be raised from the ground temporarily to enable the welding crew access to the full circumference of the pipe. This is done by placing the lengths of pipe on supports comprising stacks of overlapping timber beams or blocks known as skids. These stacks are known in the art as pigs or crotches. In order to keep the pipes in a fixed position during welding operations and also to protect the pipe surface it is necessary to place cushioning devices such as sandbags °:***between the timber skids and the pipes. After the pipes have been welded and laid in the trench, the supports are disassembled, the skids reloaded onto **trucks and transported to the next site along the pipeline for reassembly.

15 There are a number of disadvantages with using the timber *..:.skids as pipe supports. First, assembly and disassembly of the supports is time consuming and labor intensive. Further, the skids must be transported by truck between sites. The skids are relatively bulky and are typically transported between sites on semi-trailers. The transport and labour costs associated with using the timber skids significantly increases the overall cost of laying the pipeline.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a pipe support which will at least partially overcome the above disadvantages or provide the public with a useful choice.

According to a first broad form of the present invention there is provided a pipe support for supporting a length of pipe above the ground during laying of a pipeline, the support having a pipe supporting surface and a support member or members extending therefrom, said support being adapted such that two or more supports are able to be vertically stacked.

The pipe support of the present invention may be made from any suitable material. Preferably, the support is made by injection moulding a thermoplastics material such as polyethylene or polypropylene. An especially preferred material is UV stabilised high density polyethylene. Preferably the 3 support is injection moulded as an integral unit.

The support may also be made from metal and may be in the form of a metal frame. For example, the frame may be formed from box section steel.

The support of the present invention includes a pipe supporting surface. In a preferred embodiment in which the support is in the form of an integrally moulded plastics material, the support typically has an upper concave surface. In use the pipe sits on the concave surface which prevents the pipe from excessive sideways movement during welding. Preferably, the concave surface is dimensioned so as to be able to support pipes of different diameters. Alternatively, the pipe supporting surface may be substantially flat :..and have a stop member or guide located thereon which may also assist in limiting sideways movement of the pipe.

Preferably the pipe supporting surface is constructed from a S 15 resilient material or has a covering of a resilient material such as a foam.

This assists in avoiding scratching or other damage to the pipe surface. It also eliminates the use of sandbags which are presently used on top of the known skids.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the pipe support is constructed from metal. The pipe supporting surface may be a flat or concave as described above. Alternatively, the pipe supporting surface may be in the form of a metal frame. Preferably, a length of flexible material such as canvass is suspended from the frame such that in use, the pipe rests on the flexible material. Alternatively, the pipe supporting surface may include one or more rollers to enable a pipe to roll across the surface.

The pipe supporting surface has a support member or members extending therefrom. The support members may be in the form of discrete legs or panels. Preferably the support has a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls. Preferably the walls are joined at the corners. The walls may be corrugated to provide added strength.

Preferably, the pipe support has a square, rectangular or diamond shaped footprint. The type of footprint may produce stability in use and also allow for efficient storage and transport of stacked supports.

4 The pipe support is adapted such that two or more supports can be stacked. Typically, the lower region of the pipe support is adapted to receive at least the upper portion of another pipe support which enables the pipe supports to be stacked. By stacking two or more supports together, the height of a pipe supported by the support above the ground may be increased if desired. This is sometimes necessary to allow for an uneven ground surface when welding lengths of pipe together. Stacking also significantly decreases the storage space required for the supports. This assists in reducing transport costs, as less space is required for transportation. It also enables two or more supports to be moved easily.

Preferably, the support includes a lower ground locating portion.

The ground locating portion is typicaly in the form of a base flange extending outwardly from the support members.

Preferably, the support member or members have at least one 15 outwardly facing load bearing projection such that when two pipe supports are stacked, the upper surface of the load bearing projection(s) at least partially support the load of the supports stacked thereon and any pipe resting on the uppermost support. Alternatively, or in addition to, one or more load bearing ~:.:•projections may be located on the internal face of a support member and project inwardly. In this case, when the supports are stacked, the projection(s) on an upper support rest on the upper surface of a lower pipe support.

Preferably, the load bearing projection(s) are located on the support members at predetermined locations. In this way, the height of the pipe supporting surface of the uppermost support from the ground can be increased in desired increments by adding a further support to the stack.

The support may also include an internal load bearing surface.

The internal load bearing surface is typically located such that when the support is stacked on top of another support, the load bearing surface rests on the pipe supporting surface of the lower support. Typically, the shape of the load bearing surface is complimentary to the shape of the pipe supporting surface. In this way the load of the upper supports and any pipe is evenly distributed across the pipe supporting surface(s) of the lower support(s).

Preferably, the load bearing surfaces are located such that when the supports are stacked, the only point of contact between the stacked supports is at the load bearing surfaces. This may reduce or avoid deformation of the support members when stacked. Such deformation may result in making it difficult to separate stacked supports.

Preferably, the support is further provided with handle portions which enable a worker to easily lift the support. Preferably, the handle portions are located such that a worker can carry a stack of supports by grasping the handle portions of the lower most support of the stack.

In use, pipe supports of the present invention are simply placed alongside a trench and lengths of pipe are laid on the supports. The pipes are then welded or otherwise joined according to known methods. After the pipe has been welded, it is then placed in the trench. It is desirable that the "bottom surface of the trench is substantially flat and also relatively smooth so S 15 as to minimise damage to the pipe surface. Prior art methods of providing an even and smooth surface to the bottom of a trench involve sifting soil and spreading a layer of soil on the bottom of the trench. Various forms of the support of the present invention may also be used to support a pipe when laid in a trench. The supports may be placed in the trench at desired locations and the welded lengths of pipes may then be guided onto the supports by known means. Supports for use in this manner are preferably made from a material which biodegrades after the trench has been filled. The use of these supports in the trench allows the operation of partly filling the trench with a layer of sifted soil before the pipe is placed in the trench to be eliminated.

This will reduce the number of machines required and further reduce labour costs.

By way of Example only, the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying Figures in which; Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred support of the present invention; Figure 2 is an end view of the support of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the support of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a schematic end view of a number the supports of Figure 1 when stacked, Figure 5 is a schematic side view of the stacked supports of Figure 6 is a schematic view of a further preferred support of the present invention, Figure 7 is a schematic view of two supports of Figure 6 when stacked, and Figure 8A and 8B illustrate a prior art method of supporting pipes during the laying of a pipeline.

Figures 8A and 8B illustrate two known methods of arranging timber skids to support pipes. Figure 8A illustrates an assembly of five overlapping skids 1. These are referred to as pigs. A sandbag 2 is placed on the top skid and the pipe 4 rests on the sandbag. The assembly of nine skids .illustrated in Figure 8B is known as a crotch. The crotches are used to limit sideways movement of the pipe and are typically placed at periodic intervals along the pipeline with a number of pigs in-between. The pigs and crotches must be assembled before use and disassembled after use and then 15 transported to another site. Because of their size and weight, skids are generally carried individually from the transport truck to the welding site.

Figures 1 to 3 illustrate a preferred pipe support 11 of the present invention. The support is made from an injection moulded UV stabilised high density polyethylene. The support 11 has an upper pipe supporting section 12. The pipe supporting section is convex and has a layer of a resilient material such as a foam (not illustrated). In use, this resilient layer assists in protecting the pipe surface from scratching and other damage.

The support has a pair of corrugated side walls 13, 14 and a pair of end walls 15,16. The walls are joined at the corners 17. If desired, reinforcement bars may be located in the walls and are typically located along the internal ribs of the corrugations. The corrugations increase the strength of the walls and enable the width of the walls to be minimised. Typically the walls are between about 4 and about 10mm and typically about 6mm. A base flange 18 extends about the base of each support member. The base flange increases the contact area with the ground when in use so as to stabilize the support. Each side wall 13, 14 has a stepped portion 19 extending from base flange 18. Stepped portions 19 are also located at each corner 17.

The support has a pair of opposed handles 20, 21 at each end of the supporting surface. Apertures 22 are provided in the handles to allow a persons fingers to protrude therethrough so as to facilitate grasping of the handles. The side walls are provided with apertures 23. These apertures enable a person access to the handles of the lower support. In this way a person can easily pick up and move a stacked set of supports.

In use, a support 11 is simply placed at a desired location on the ground. It can be seen that use of the support 11 considerably reduces the time and effort involved in constructing the pigs and crotches as illustrated in Figures 8A and 8B. Occasionally it is necessary to vary the height of a pipe support. This can be done by simply stacking two or more supports 11.

Figure 4 and 5 illustrate schematically three supports 11 of Figures 1 to 3 when stacked. It can be seen that when stacked, the base flange 18 abuts the upper surface 25 of a stepped portion on the lower support 11A. The support 11 also has a lower concave surface 26. This concave surface is complimentary to concave surface 12. When the supports 11 are stacked surfaces 12 and 26 abut one another. The length of the stepped portion between the base flange 17 and the upper surface 25 of the stepped portion is about the same as the spacing between the upper 12 and lower 26 surfaces. This means that when the supports are stacked the base flange and stepped portion and upper and lower surfaces meet at about the same time. This assists in distributing the load from the weight of the upper supports(s) and pipe. Further, when the supports are stacked, the location of the stepped portions prevents the inner face 27 of the side walls 13 and 14 abutting the outer face 28 of the side walls 13, 14 of a lower support. This avoids deformation of the walls of the upper support. Such deformation can make it difficult for a person to separate the stacked supports.

Figure 7 illustrates a further preferred pipe support 30 of the present invention. The support 30 includes a metal frame formed from boxed steel. The support has a rectangular base frame member 31. The support has three U shaped support members 32, 33, 34. Each support member is connected to the rectangular base member 31 with the apex 42, 43, 44 of the U remote from the base member 31. Inner support member 33 projects substantially vertically from the base member 31. The outer supports 32, 34 project at an angle towards each other. The apexes 42, 43, 44 of the support members are connected by a V shaped member 48. To the member is mounted two rollers 49, 50 which defines the pipe supporting surface. The presence of the rollers 49, 50 allows a pipe supported by a number of pipe supports to be moved laterally. This may be desirable to adjust the position of the ends of the pipes prior to welding.

The pipe support 30 also has six outwardly facing lugs 50 extending from the base portion of each leg of the support members 32, 33, 34. These legs support the base member 31 of a second pipe support 30a as illustrated in Figure 8. The presence of the lugs minimizes the likelihood of stacked supports being jammed together. The lugs are sized such that the -supports may be stacked so as to increase the height of the stack by predetermined increments. This allows the heights of the supports to be varied as desired.

It can be seen that by using the supports of the present invention during the process of pipe laying, labour costs can be reduced. Use of the supports of the present invention avoid the time and labour required to unload individual skids from trucks, assemble the skids into pigs and :crotches, followed by disassembly and replacement of the skids onto the trucks. The supports are also typically much lighter than the timber skids and a number of stacked supports may easily be carried by a single worker. This also reduces the labour involved in loading and unloading the skids, which because of their size and weight must be unloaded individually.

Further, because of the location of handles adjacent the upper surface of the support, a worker does not need to bend down as far to pick up a support or supports as when picking up a skid from the ground. This may assist in reducing back injuries.

The stackablity of the supports also assists in reducing transport costs. The space required to transport a fixed number of supports is much less than that required to transport the number of skids required to construct an equivalent number of pigs or crotches. Accordingly the number of trucks required to transport the supports may be reduced.

The preferred supports which have load bearing projections have a number of advantages. The projections prevent stacked supports from jamming together and becoming difficult to separate. The load bearing projections also allow incremental height adjustment of the support by simply stacking two or more supports. Such incremental height adjustment may be desirable when supporting a section of pipe or uneven ground.

The pipe supports of the present invention may be constructed such that they are able to support large loads, typically up to between 2000 and 4000 kg in a stable manner.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the above embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

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Claims

1. A pipe support for supporting a length of pipe above the ground during laying of a pipeline, the support having a pipe supporting surface and a support member or members extending therefrom, said support being adapted such that two or more supports are able to be stacked.

2. The support of claim 1 having at least one load bearing projection which supports the load of an upper support when two or more supports are stacked.

3. The support of claim 2, wherein the at least one load bearing projection is outwardly facing.

4. The support of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the at least one load bearing projection is sized to allow incremental height adjustment of a pipe support by stacking two or more pipe supports together.

The support of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pipe supporting surface is defined by at least one roller. o

6. The support of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the support members are legs extending from the pipe supporting surface.

7. The support of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the support members include a pair of opposing panels extending from the support S 20 surface. co

8. The support of claim 7, wherein the panels are ribbed or corrugated.

9. The support of any one of claims 1 to 8, which includes an internal load bearing surface, such that when two or more supports are stacked the pipe supporting surface of a lower support supports the load bearing surface of an upper support.

10. A pipe support for supporting a length of pipe above the ground during laying of a pipeline, the pipe support being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 7. DATED this 21st day of February 2000 DANIEL ROY GILLESPIE By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.