FR2844534A1 - Device for mounting an apparatus, e.g. a volumetric counter, on a water feed channel in a building, has tubular support mounted in place of stopcock - Google Patents

Abstract

The device includes a tubular support (28) mounted in the place of a stop cock (20) on the channels and having connection units to channels identical to the stopcocks. The support includes curved conduits for connecting the apparatus (54) and the stopcocks.

Description

i

  DEVICE FOR MOUNTING AN APPARATUS ON A SUPPLY PIPING.

  The invention relates to a device for mounting an apparatus on a supply pipe, such as for example a water supply pipe in a building, this pipe comprising

  a stop valve of a standard type.

  Many old buildings only have a collective water supply. They are equipped with a single volumetric meter 10, called "collective" or "building foot". From this point go

  one or more risers to which or to which pipes connected to the apartments of the building are connected.

  The water bill is distributed among the occupants according to flat-rate formulas, which do not take into account the individual consumption of the occupants and which sometimes give rise to dispute.

  It is therefore quite common for property managers or co-owners to decide to install individual meters, also called division or distribution meters. This installation generally involves cutting the pipes, for example at the level of the taps on the risers, that is to say most often within a technical sheath. The space available between the risers and the walls of the technical ducts is generally very limited. In addition, this space is often partly occupied by a shut-off valve, making it possible to cut off the water supply to an apartment. This space is also generally not very accessible, because the

  technical ducts contain a set of pipes (rainwater downpipe, waste water evacuation, hot water or heating pipes, controlled mechanical ventilation pipe, etc.). This makes it difficult to install the meters, and then the 30 meter reading operations.

  In addition to cutting the pipes, it is often necessary to lay bent conduits or brackets which allow to artificially increase the length of the pipe connected to the meter and to place the latter in a place facilitating its reading. These operations are relatively long and complex and must be carried out by plumbers of a high level of skill. It is moreover relatively difficult to predict precisely the duration thereof, which is a source of embarrassment.

for the occupants of the building.

  It has already been proposed to use pre-assembled assemblies 10 comprising volumetric meters, bent conduits and

  sticks, which facilitate installation and reduce working time inside a technical sheath. However, this does not eliminate the cutting and welding of the pipeline and does not solve the problems associated with the qualification of plumbers doing the work and planning the duration of the work.

  The object of the present invention is in particular to provide a

  simple, effective and economical solution to these problems.

  To this end, it proposes a device for mounting an apparatus on a supply pipe, such as for example a water supply pipe 20 in a building, which is provided with an element such as a tap. '' stop of a standard type connected in leaktight manner to the pipe, characterized in that it comprises a tubular support suitable for being mounted in place of said element on the pipe and comprising means for fixing and connection to the device aforementioned and means 25 for tight connection to the ends of the pipe

  previously connected to the shut-off valve.

  The device according to the invention thus takes the place of a tap

  stop which equips the pipe and connects to it using the means previously provided for the connection of the stop valve. This avoids all the cutting and welding operations of the pipeline.

  The device according to the invention can therefore be used by low-skilled personnel, since its installation requires only operations

  disassembly and reassembly by screwing and unscrewing.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the above-mentioned tubular support 5 has substantially the same length as the shut-off valve which it replaces on the pipeline.

  This facilitates the installation of the device according to the invention since it is not necessary to separate or bring the two ends of the

  pipes which were previously connected to the shut-off valve.

  According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the tubular support comprises at one of its ends a rotary fixing connector

  on a corresponding end of the pipeline.

  This rotary connector is advantageously sliding on said

  end of the tubular support, which further facilitates the installation of the device 15 according to the invention.

  In a first embodiment of the invention, the other

  end of the tubular support has an external thread for fixing it to a throat collar of the corresponding end of the pipe.

  In an alternative embodiment, each end of the tubular support 20 comprises a rotary connection fitting on the end

corresponding to the pipeline.

  This variant has the particular advantage that the device according to the invention, once placed on the pipe, can be moved in rotation about the axis of the pipe, for example to be brought into a position o reading the dial of the device is facilitated, then to be brought to another position where it is the least annoying or

  in a recommended operating position of the device.

  Advantageously, this device comprises means for retaining the rotary connector on the tubular support, these retaining means being for example formed by a jumper or a key engaged in an annular groove in the tubular support and in a corresponding hole in the connector, or else by a segment engaged in annular grooves of the

support and fitting.

  This avoids any risk of dislocation of the rotary connector under

the effect of pressure.

  In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tubular support comprises two bent conduits, the first ends of which comprise the means of attachment and connection to the aforementioned device and the second ends of which are coaxial with the ends of the support

  tubular and open into them.

  In the device according to the invention, the aforementioned device can be a volumetric counter. Preferably, this counter is associated with a stop valve which is mounted in series with the counter between the

  ends of the bent conduits of the device.

  Alternatively, the apparatus fitted to the device according to the invention may be a water softener, a balloon, a pressure regulator, a valve.

  non-return or circulation pump, among others.

  Of course, the invention also applies to pipes other than the hot water or cold water pipes in buildings, for example to gas pipes and central heating pipes and the device according to the invention. can be designed for

  replace elements other than shut-off valves.

  The invention will be better understood, and other characteristics,

  details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly on reading the description which follows, given by way of example with reference to the appended drawings in which:

  - Figure 1 is a partial schematic view in vertical section, showing a riser in a technical sheath of a building and pipes equipped respectively with a stopcock, a device according to the prior art and a device according to the invention; - Figure 2 is a schematic view on a larger scale of the device according to the invention; - Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, and shows

  variant embodiments of the invention.

  In FIG. 1, the reference 10 designates a technical sheath of a building, which is adjacent to an apartment 12 from which it is separated by a vertical wall 14, and which contains at least one riser 16 of water supply, on which pipes 18 are connected

  each of which serves an apartment.

  In the traditional technique, each pipe 18 comprises a stop valve 20 making it possible to cut and open

  the water supply to the apartment 12.

  When it is necessary to equip the apartments with individual volumetric meters, the technique prior to the present invention 15 consists in cutting the pipe 18 between the riser 16 and the vertical wall 14, preferably between the tap 20 and the wall 14, to install a volumetric counter 22 which must be connected to the pipe 18 by bent conduits and / or brackets 24, as shown in the middle part of FIG. 1. As already indicated, the operations of cutting and welding the pipe 18 must be

  performed by qualified personnel. In addition, it is not easy to carry out this work in a space as small as that of a technical sheath which can include several risers and other pipes, for example for evacuating waste water and lowering 25 rainwater.

  The device according to the invention, which is shown in the lower part of Figure 1 and which is designated by the reference 26, allows

to avoid these disadvantages.

  As best seen in FIG. 2, this device 26 essentially comprises a tubular support 28 whose length L is substantially equal to that of the stop valve 20 of a standard type, and

  bent conduits or crosspieces 30, 32 having first ends 34, 36 respectively between which is mounted the apparatus with which one wishes to equip the pipe 18, and second ends 38, 40 respectively which are coaxial with the ends of the tubular support 28 and which end 5 at the same level as these or which form the ends of the tubular support 28.

  Preferably, the conduits 30, 32 have an internal diameter substantially equal to that of the pipe 18 and / or that of the tap.

stop 20 to be replaced.

  The first ends 34, 36 of the bent conduits or hooks

  , 32 include means 42 for example of the nut type for fixing on the device or devices to be mounted, and the ends of the tubular support 28 and bent conduits 30, 32 include the same means of fixing and connection on the pipe 18 as the shut-off valve 20 15 previously mounted on this pipe.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the end 40 of the tubular support 28 can comprise an external thread 44 by means of which it can be fixed on a beaten collar formed at the corresponding end of the pipe 18, this end comprising a nut 20 with internal thread screwable onto the external thread 44 of the end 40 of the

tubular support 28.

  At its other end, this tubular support is equipped with a rotary connector 46 which is mounted axially sliding on the end 38 of the tubular support 28 and of the elbow conduit 30 and which can rotate freely 25 around the axis of the tubular support 28 This rotary connector 46 has an internal thread 48 making it possible to fix it to an external thread of the corresponding end of the pipe 18, or an external thread

  of fixing on a beaten collar fitted with a nut as described above.

  To maintain the rotary connector 46 on the end 38 of the tubular support 30, and to seal at this end, two annular grooves 50 can be formed in the peripheral surface

  outer end 38, one being intended to receive an O-ring seal and the other a key or a jumper which is engaged in one or two corresponding holes 52 of the rotary connector 46. It is also possible to use a segment instead of the key or the jumper, this segment 5 being mounted in annular grooves of the connector and of the end 38 of the support 28 to oppose their axial separation.

  As a variant, it is of course possible to provide the same connection means on the two ends of the tubular support 28, these connection means preferably being rotary connectors 46, so that the device according to the invention can, after its assembly on the line 18, be moved freely in rotation around the axis of the line 18 to occupy any desired position in the

technical sheath 10.

  Preferably, the device according to the invention comprises a stop valve 20 and a volumetric counter 54 which are mounted in series between the ends 34 and 36 respectively of the bent conduits or crosses, 32. In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, the shut-off valve 20 and the

  meter 54 are connected in a direction perpendicular to line 18.

  In the alternative embodiment of the upper part of FIG. 3, the stop valve 20 and the counter 54 of the device according to the invention are connected parallel to the pipe 18. In this case, the valve

stop 20 is bent.

  This can facilitate mounting when it is necessary to place a device according to the invention on a pipe 18 connected to a riser of cold water and another device according to the invention on a pipe 18 connected to a riser 16 'of feeding in

Hot water.

  In the variant embodiment shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, the device according to the invention comprises a tubular support 28 as mentioned above, a bent pipe 30 connected to a stop valve 20, and another free bent pipe 32, this device allowing the connection of any device between the free outlet of the shut-off valve 20 and the free end of the conduit 32. As indicated above, this device can be a water softener, a balloon, a water regulator pressure, non-return valve, circulation pump, etc. In all cases, the installation of the device according to the invention is extremely simple and rapid, since it suffices to unscrew the means of connection of a stop valve 20 of a standard type to mount instead 10 a device according to the invention whose tubular support 28 has the same axial length as the stop valve 20. This assembly is done without the need to modify the distance between the corresponding ends

of line 18.

  As the number of different types of shut-off valves is small, it is possible to make several types of device according to

  the invention, each adapted to a type of shut-off valve.

  Furthermore, the embodiment of the invention in which a rotary connector 46 is mounted at one end of the tubular support 28 makes it possible to compensate for differences in length between the stop valve 20 20 previously mounted and the tubular support 28 of the device according to

  the invention thanks to the possibility of sliding of the rotary connector on the end of the tubular support. It suffices to give sufficient width to the groove 50 which receives the rider or the key mounted in the holes 52 of the rotary connector 46, or the segment mounted in a groove 25 of the connector.

  In the embodiments described and shown, the tubular support 28 of the device according to the invention is straight and rectilinear. Alternatively, it can be bent, especially when the stop valve at

replace is of the angled type.

  In addition, the device according to the invention can be equipped with means for passing a lead wire, such as for example a passage in the

  rotary connector and an annular groove at the end 38 of the tubular support 28, any other means of detecting fraudulent disassembly also being usable.

Claims (9)

  1 - Device for mounting an apparatus on a supply pipe, such as for example a water supply pipe 5 in a building, which is provided with an element such as a shut-off valve a standard type (20) tightly connected to the pipe, characterized in that it comprises a tubular support (28) suitable for being mounted in place of said element (20) on the pipe (18) and fixing means and connection (42) to the aforementioned apparatus and means (44, 10 46, 48) for sealing connection to the ends of the pipe (18)   previously connected to the shut-off valve (20).   2 - Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the tubular support (28) has substantially the same length as the valve   stop (20) which it replaces on the pipe (18).   3 - Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the tubular support (28) comprises at one of its ends a rotary connector (46) for fixing on a corresponding end of the pipe (18).   4 - Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the rotary connector (46) is sliding on the end of the tubular support (28).   - Device according to one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that the other end of the tubular support has an external thread (44) for fixing it to a collar beaten from the end   corresponding to the pipeline (18).   6 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in   that each end of the tubular support (28) has a rotary connector (46) for fixing to a corresponding end of the pipe (18).   7 - Device according to one of the preceding claims, 30 characterized in that it comprises means (50, 52) for retaining the   fitting on the tubular support (28), these retaining means comprising a jumper or a key engaged in an annular groove (50) of the tubular support (28) and in a corresponding hole (52) of the fitting (46), or a segment engaged in annular grooves of the support   tubular and rotary connector (46).   S 8 - Device according to one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that the tubular support (28) comprises two bent conduits (30, 32) whose first ends (34, 36) comprise the means (42) for fixing and connection to the aforementioned device and whose second ends are coaxial at the ends of the tubular support and 10 open into them.   9 - Device according to one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that the above-mentioned device (54) and a stop valve (20) are   mounted in series and connected to the tubular support (28).   - Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the above-mentioned device is a volumetric counter (54).   11 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in   what the above device is a water softener, a balloon, a regulator   pressure, a non-return valve or a circulation pump.   12 - Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tubular support (28) is of rectilinear shape or bent.