CA1049244A - Irrigation hose and belt splice preparing tool - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A tool or apparatus for preparing a fabric reinforced flexible hose or fab-ric reinforced conveyor belt for splicing by removing or stripping the elasto-meric material forming the hose or belt form the fabric cords. The tool includes a knife disposed transversely of the hose or belt and movable longitudinally the roof while engaged with and partially penetrating the hose or belt for strip-ping the elastomeric material from the fabric, thus leaving and exposing the longitudinal cords on the end of the hose or belt thereby enabling a splice to be made. The knife is adjustable toward and away from the hose or belt and moves in an arouate path about a center of an arouate supporting surface or anvil for the hose or belt. The knife is mounted on an elongated actuating handle to en-able sufficient force to be emerted on the knife to strip the elastomeric mate-rial from the fabric.

Description

1049Z4~
Ihe present invention generally relates to the splicing of large diameter flexible hoses, conveyor belts, and the like, having strands or cords of material with high tensile strength which reinforoe the hose or belt. When a splice is made, the longitudinal strands or aords are securea together and the present in-vention relates particularly to a devioe for effectively stripping the elasto-meric material longitudinally from an end portion of a hose or belt while leav-ing the longitudinal o~rds or strands exposed for subsequently splicing the hose or belt.
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,238, issued June 26, 1973, for Irrigation ~,~ Hose Coupling and Pull End, there is disdosed a relatively large diameter flex-ible irrigation hose which is pulled across an area being irrigated. l~is type of hose frequently beoomes ruptured and it is economically desirable to splioe such a hose rather than discard the whole length of hose inasmuch as such hoses are available only in long segments, such as a 600 foot hose. In my prior U.S.
Pat. No. 3,666,586, issued May 30, 1972, for Cord Reinforoed Hose Splicing Meth-od, there is disclosed a technique by which irrigation hoses are splioed in which the longitudinal reinforcing oords are exposed and secured together by tielng knots with the splice then being provided with inner and outer layers of vulcanizable elastomeric material. In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,233, issued ~March 12, 1974, for Hose Splicing Apparatus, there is disclosed a device for effectively repairing or splicing the hose.
While such devioes have been effectively employed, considerable time and labor is required to strip the elastomeric material of the hose from the longi-~inal reinforcing cords. In addition to the labor costs, relatively sharp knives or similar instruments are used which result in a safety hazard. Various types of manual implements have been provided for longitudinally stripping insu-lation from electric conductors and the like but to my knowledge there is no tool or apparatus available to longitudinally strip elastomeric material from an irrigation hose, a conveyor belt, or similar items having longitudinal flexi-3~)ble reinforcing strands or aords, so that such strands or oords may be fixedlyinterconnected in order to form a splice in the hose, belt, or similar devioe.
An object of the invention is to provide a tool for use in preparing a fab-ric reinforoed irrigation hose or conveyor belt for splicing by stripping and 3 :~

removing the elastomeric material from which the hose or belt is formed from an end portion of the hose or belt and leaving intact the longitudinal flexible cords so that the e~posed cords may be secured together such as by tieing appropriate kno.ts.
Another object of th.e invention is to prov$de a tool in accordance with the preceding object in which the flattened end of an irrigation hose or an end portion of a belt is supported on an arcuate supporting surface or anvil and a knife is engaged transversely of the hose or belt and moved longi-tudinally thereof while suitable inward pressure is exerted thereonthereby stripping the elastomeric material from the longitudinal flexlble fabric cords and leaving such cords exposed.
A further object of the invention is to provide a tool in accordance with the preceding objects in which the ~nife is adjustably mounted on an elongated arm having its inner end pivotally supported at the center of the arc of curvature of the supporting surface or anvil so that the path of movement of- !
the blade is concentric with the supporting surface or anvil.
Broadly speaking the present invention provides a tool for preparing an elastomeric item having longitudinal, flexiblé
reinforcing elements embedded therein for splicing by stripping the elastomeric material from the reinforcing elements and i exposing them for connection with identical exposed reinforcing elemeots when forming a splice between adjacent ends of items to be spliced, the tool comprising a supporting surface on which an elastomeric item may be placed, a knife having a straight edge extenting transversely of and generally parallel to the supporting surface and elastomeric item for engaging the elastomeric item, and means supporting the knife for adjustment toward the elastomeric item and for movement longitudinally of the elastomeric item while engaged with the elastomeric material for stripping the elastomeric material from the longitudinal reinforcing elements, the supporting surfaces being arcuately _ dap/~ -, curved with the axis of curvature paralleling the knife edge, the means supporting the knife including a support arm pivoted to move about an axis coincident with the center of curvature of the arcuate supporting surface whereby the knife moves in an arcuate path concentric with the arcuate supporting surface.

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io4sz44 Still another important feature of this invention is the provision of a tool in accordance with all of the pre oe ding objects which is relatively simple to use, efficient in carrying out its functions and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.
; mese together with other objects and advantages which will become subse-quently apparent reside in the details of construction and cperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referen oe being had to the accompany-ing drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.
1~ A clearer understanding of this invention in its embodiment may be had I from a study of the following specification and the figures in which:
Figure 1 is a plan view of the tool of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a front elevational view thereof.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 3--3 of Figure 2 illustrating the specific structure of t~e oomponents of the tool with a portion of the handle being broken away.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the tool illustrating the support there-of in a vise.
` Figure 5 is a perspective view of an end section of an irrigation hose il-lustrating the longitudinal reinforoe ment c~rds partially exposed.
Referring now specifically to the drawings, the tool or apparatus of the present invention is generally designated by the numeral 10 and includes a sub-stantially cylindrical member 12 having an arcuate or cylindrical supporting surfa oe or anvil 14 defined on the periphery thereof which forms a support for receiving the end portion of a flattened irrigation hose 16 with it being under-stood that the hose 16 has only its end portion flattened for stripping or re-moving the elastomeric material 18 from which the hose is constructed, thus leaving exposed the longitudinal reinforcing o~rds or strands 20 which are flex-ible Ln nature and c~nstructed of various conventional materia~ such as a fab-ric c~rd so that such cords may be exposed for fixed connection with similar oords on the other end of the hose to be spliced. While this devi oe is specifi-cally illustrated in association with a relatively large diameter irrigation hose employed with a travelling gun irrigation system, it is also useful in ~049Z44 stripping elastomeric material from fabric cord or strand reinforced conveyor belts or other similar flexible members reinforced by cords or strands when it is desired to strip the elastomeric material from an end portion of the item while retaining the integrity of the flexible cords or strands thus leaving the cords or strands exposed. Ihe elastomeric material involved may be rubber or polyvinyl chloride which may be pre-softened such as by using a known solvent for the particular elastomeric material. When stripping a hose, it may be necessary to actually perform several stripping operations, that is on both the interior surfaoe and on the exterior surfaoe of the hose, with approximately one-half the circumference of the hose being stripped at any one given time.
In this regard, the end portion of the hose being stripped can be provided with a longitudinal slit at diametrically opposed points therein for the length of the hose to be s tripped.
The supporting surfaoe or anvil 14 is rigidly supported by a mounting plate 22 rigidly affixed along one surfaoe thereof and projecting radially therefrom with the plate being welded to the cylindrical member 12 as at 24 with the length of the plate 22 being substantially the same as the length of the cylindrical member 12 or possibly slightly longer. The plate 22 includes a pair of apertures 26 at corners thereof remote from the cylindrical member 12 ~0 for re,ceiving anchor bolts 28 which extend into a workbench 30 or other suitable supporting surfaoe in order to fixedly mount the plate 22 and the cylindrical member 12. ~Ihe mounting plate 22 is also provided with a depending flange 32 thereon which serves to abut the edge 34 of the workbench 30 to further rigid-ity the plate 22 and this flange 32 also serves as a mounting means for secur-ing the plate in a conventional vise 36, such as a conventional bench vise, thus enabling the tool to be carried to a job site and fixedly supported in a rigid manner by using a bench vise such as is usually available in most farm workshops.
The cylindrical member 12 is rigid and provided with diametric end plates 38 which may be solid or only partially close the end of the cylindrical mem-ber. An axle or projecting pintles 40 are supported from the end plates 38 and are located at the oenter of the cylindrical surfaoe or arcuate surface on the periphery of the cylindrical member 12. A supporting and operating arm or ~049Z44 handle 42 is pivotally supported from the axle or pintles 40 for arcuate move-ment about a oenter which coinciaes with the center of curvature of the support-ing surfa oe or anvil 14. The pintles 40 may be removable and in the form of pivot bolts, studs or the like or the pintles may be in the form of a continuous shaft or axle extending through the end plates 38 and the corresponding portions ;~ of an arm or handle 42.
The arm or handle 42 includes a pair of parallel longitudinally extending side members 44 rigidly interconnected at their outer ends by a transverse hand grip 46. The inner ends of the side members 44 are interconnected by an angle ID iron 48 having one flange disposed alongside of one surface of the side members 44 and the other flange extending across the inner ends of the side members 44 as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 with the angle iron member 48 being welded to the side members 44 as indicated by numeral 50 and the hand grip or cross mem-ber 46 at the outer ends of the side members 44 also being welded thereto as at 52. This oonstruction provides a rigid frame which is in the form of a handle ; or lever to enable it to be pivoted about the axis defined by the pintles 40.
Rigidly affixed to the inner flange of the angle iron 48 which is desig-nated by numeral 54, is a pair of mounting straps or bars 56 which, in effect, form extensions of the side members 44 but are of less thickness. The inner ends of the straps or bars 56 extend alongside of the end plates 38 and have apertures pivotally receiving the pintles 40, thus pivotally connecting the arm 42 to the cylindrical member 12 for arcuate swinging movement about the oe nter of the cylindrical member 12.
The straps or bars 56 each has a longitudinal slot 58 therein which forms a guide for an elongated knife 60 which has its ends slidably re oe ived in the slots 58 and which has a blade edge 62 disposed adja oe nt the periphery of the supporting surfa oe or anvil 14. The blade edge 62 is hollow ground or provided with a re oess 66 in its leading edge, that is, the edge which moves toward the free end of the hose 16 when in use. Due to the mounting of the arm 42 for 3~ pivotal movement about the oenter of the anvil 14, the blade edge 62 will move in an arcuate path concentric with the periphery of the cylindrical member 12 from a dotted line position illustrated in Figure 3 to a position where the blade edge will pass beyond the free end of the hose 16 supported on the anvil . ..

14. 1049Z44 The knife 60 is movable inwardly toward the supporting surface or anvil 14 by the provision of a pair of screw threaded members 68 in the form of bolts which are threaded through intemally threaded nuts 70 welded to the flange 54 of the angle iron member 48 so that as the bolts 68 are turned downwardly, the lower ends thereof will engage the outer edge of the knife 60 and force the blade edge 62 toward the supporting surfaoe or anvil 14.
In order to prevent longitudinal movement of the hose during the stripping operation, a clamping bar 72 is disposed above the hose in opposed relation to ~D the mounting plate 22 as illustrated in Figure 3. The clamp bar 72 is held down by a pair of bolts 74 disposed at the remote ends of the bar 72 and adjaoent the side edges of the mounting plate 22. The undersurfaoe of the bar 72 and the corresponding portion of the mounting plate 22 are provided with ridges or ser-rations 76 for effectively gripping the hose. The clamp bar 72 may be oriented in substantially any position on the mounting plate and preferably somewhere adjacent the supporting surface or anvil 14 in order to maintain the flattened hose 16 against a major portion of the supporting surface 14. The dimensional characteristics of the tool may vary but the effective working width of the anvil 14 should be sufficient to receive the flattened hose or conveyor belt with the distanoe between the bolts 74 also being sufficient to receive the hose or belt. me knife 60 may be movably confined within the slots 58 by bolted on retaining plates on the outer surfaoe of the straps or bars 56 which enables easy removal thereof and replaoement of the knife 60 when desired, thus enabling the knife to be sharpened and replaced as neoessary. The inner ends of the slots 58 may be such to space the blade edge 62 slightly away from the supporting surface or anvil 14 thereby preventing the blade edge from cutting the longitudinal cords. Stripping of the elastomeric material will also remove peripheral reinforcing cords in the hose or transverse reinforcing cords in a belt and, in some instanoes, it may be neoessary to remove peripheral reinforc-ing cords or transverse reinforcing cords after the elastomeric material has been stripped. ~epending upon the elastomeric material involved and the con-struction of the hose or belt, it sometimes is neoessary to soften the elasto-meric material, such as by using a known solvent for the particular material involved. In other instan oes, heat may be applied to the hose while in yet other instan oes, the hose will strip effectively when cold. The scoop-like re oess or cutout 66 in the leading edge of the blade keeps the material being removed from piling up or becoming a mass or gob, since the curved surface of the recess will cause such ma~ rial to roll forwardly toward the free end of the hose.
In actual practice with certain o~mmercially available irrigation hoses having a diameter of 4, 5 or 6 inches, up to 12 man hours are usually necessary to strip one end of a hose preparatory to splicing the hose. By using this ~tool, the actual stripping time has been materially reduced with the same type of hose, which previously took up to 12 man hours, actually requiring only a matter of minutes to strip the hose of elastomeric material and expose the lon-gitudinal oords throughout the periphery of the hose. m is, of oourse, results in a considerable saving of time and materially reduces the expense involved in stripping a hose preparatory to splicing.
~ he foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further~ sin oe numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the ex-act construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

1. A tool for preparing an elastomeric item having longitudinal, flexible reinforcing elements embedded therein for splicing by stripping the elastomeric material from the reinforcing elements and exposing them for connection with identical exposed reinforcing elements when forming a splice between adjacent ends of items to be spliced, said tool comprising a supporting surface on which an elastomeric item may be placed, a knife having a straight edge extending transversely of and generally parallel to the supporting surface and elastomeric item for engaging the elastomeric item, and means supporting the knife for ad-justment toward the elastomeric item and for movement longitudinally of the elastomeric item while engaged with the elastomeric material for stripping the elastomeric material from the longitudinal reinforcing elements, said support-ing surface being arcuately curved with the axis of curvature paralleling the knife edge, said means supporting the knife including a support arm pivoted to move about an axis coincident with the center of curvature of the arcuate sup-porting surface whereby the knife moves in an arcuate path concentric with the arcuate supporting surface.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said supporting surface includes a laterally extending support plate attached thereto for mounting on a workbench or in a vise, and a clamp bar mounted on said plate for securing the elastomeric item fixedly in position to prevent longitudinal movement there-to when stripping the elastomeric material, said means supporting the knife in-cluding a handle on the outer end thereof for manually moving the blade about its axis of support, said means adjusting the blade toward the elastomeric item including guide means for the blade and screw threaded means engaged with the outer edge of the blade for moving the blade toward the supporting surface with the guide means limiting the movement of the blade to prevent the blade from cutting the reinforcing elements, said knife including a sharpened inner blade edge having a concavely recessed surface in the face thereof to roll the mate-rial being stripped.

3. The structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said knife includes a sharp inner blade edge having a concavely recessed surface in the face thereof to roll the material being stripped.

4. A device for stripping elastomeric material from the longitudinal re-inforcing cords in a flexible hose in order to prepare the end of a hose for splicing with an adjacent hose end, said device comprising an arcuate support-ing surface for supportingly engaging the outer surface of a flattened end por-tion of the hose with the axis of curvature of the supporting surface being transverse in relation to the longitudinal axis of the hose, means securing the end portion of the hose in flattened relation to the arcuate surface to prevent longitudinal movement of the end portion of the hose, a knife supported trans-versely above the flattened end portion of the hose in opposed substantially parallel relationship to the arcuate surface, said knife having a length gener-ally equal to the width of the supporting surface, arm means supporting the knife for swinging movement in an arcuate path concentric with the arcuate sur-face and means to adjust the knife in relation to the arcuate surface for pene-trating the elastomeric material to a desired depth for stripping the elasto-meric material without destruction of the longitudinal reinforcing cords.

5. The structure as defined in claim 4, wherein said knife includes a re-cessed surface adjacent the inner edge thereof to facilitate stripping of the elastomeric material from the flattened end portion of the hose.

6. The structure as defined in claim 4, wherein said securing means in-cludes a transverse member parallel to the arcuate surface for flattening the end portion of the hose when disposed in clamping engagement therewith, said knife being radially disposed in relation to the arcuate surface and including a sharp inner edge having a length substantially equal to the transverse dimen-sion of the flattened end portion of the hose.

7. A device for stripping elastomeric material from the longitudinal re-inforcing cords in a flexible hose in order to prepare the end of a hose for splicing with an adjacent hose end, said device comprising an arcuate support-ing surface for a flattened end portion of the hose, means securing the end por-tion of the hose in flattened relation to the arcuate surface to prevent longi-tudinal movement of the end portion of the hose, a knife supported transversely above the flattened end portion of the hose in opposed relationship to the arcu-ate surface, arm means supporting the knife for swinging movement in an arcuate path concentric with the arcuate surface and means to adjust the knife in rela-tion to the arcuate surface for penetrating the elastomeric material to a de-sired depth for stripping the elastomeric material without destruction of the longitudinal reinforcing cords, said arm means supporting the knife including an elongated rigid handle structure having a hand grip at the outer end thereof for manual manipulation thereof, said arcuate surface being in the form of a cylinder with central end pintles defining the axis of support for the arm means and knife, said knife including a recessed surface adjacent the inner edge there-of to facilitate stripping of the elastomeric material, said adjustment means for the knife including a pair of screw threaded members on said handle and en-gaging the outer edge of the knife for moving the knife radially inwardly toward the center of the arcuate surface.

8. The structure as defined in claim 7, wherein said arcuate surface in-cludes a lateral mounting plate, said means securing the hose end portion in place including a clamp bar extending across the mounting plate adjacent the arcuate surface.

9. The structure as defined in claim 8, wherein said mounting plate in-cludes a depending flange for reception in a bench vise for supporting the de-vice in operative position.

10. The structure as defined in claim 8, wherein said mounting plate is adapted to be supported on a workbench with fastening means securing the mount-ing plate rigidly in place.